Throughout the history of American slavery and abolitionist activities Jefferson was a key figure. Because he so clearly and fervently denounced slavery as inconsistent with natural rights and the ideology of the Revolution, he has been hailed by many as a champion of equality. On the other hand, Jefferson owned many slaves during his lifetime, and he freed only seven, five of these being emancipated through his will. This fact has made him vulnerable to attacks from modern historians. The critics have oversimplified and distorted matters relating to slavery as they applied to Jefferson and his time. Slavery during his lifetime was not the dramatic issue that it has been made out to be. The major passion of Jefferson's generation was the establishment of a sound Union for whites, based on general principles of republicanism. Specifically, for Jefferson, this meant the establishment of a nation for self-governing, self-sufficient white farmers. In his Notes on Virginia, Jefferson declared that "those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God if ever he had a chosen people."2 The Creator had deposited in these people, to a greater extent than in any other group, a large amount of true virtue. Looking …

This paper focuses on the Secret Six who consisted of Theodore Parker, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Samuel Gridley Howe, George Luther Stearns, and Gerrit Smith, and the concepts that these men believed in regarding the type of society they wanted established in the United States. The dominant theme in the minds of this Secret Six was the romantic belief in the free individual. The belief in the free individual living in a free, progressive society held out the promise that America could become a perfect community of autonomous individuals and an example for all the world. But the Secret Six realized that for America to be this perfect community of autonomous individuals, America had to be freed of any determinism in its institutions. These six crusaders had such faith in their theories of individualism, that they abandoned moral persuasion and accepted violence as the principal means of establishing their society. These men believed that only the type of an individual who was willing to use violence if necessary and to die for the dictates of his conscience, could reform America into a community that exemplified to the world a belief in the free individual.

The concept which Martin Luther had of the nature of woman did a great deal to intensify the idea of woman's inferiority in the modern world. Framed by an investigation of the traditional and unique aspects of that concept and speculation about its effect on succeeding generations, a delineation of Luther's view will reveal his contribution to the concept of female inferiority and evil. As a formulator of religious and ethical concepts for modern man, Luther insured the continuance of this idea in the modern world. While it has adapted to changes in society's forms, the whole fabric of Luther's view of the female remains. Though some of his ideas remain as remnants reduced to truisms, the impact which they still have on human relationships and societal structure cannot be taken lightly.

Historians and political scientists have written prodigiously on the long, versatile, and at times brilliant political career of James Madison, who, as a politician from Virginia, prolific writer, and an incisive thinker, became Thomas Jefferson's secretary of state, and president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Over the years, however, there has been little consensus in American historiography concerning the effectiveness of Madison's career as president. This widespread divergence of opinion among scholars relating to his presidency is largely centered on the seemingly complex nature of Madison.