Slavery and the Founding Fathers

When the issue of slavery and the Founding Father's arise, it is clear that despite some of their noble actions, the Founding Fathers were indeed hypocritical to true American ideals in both action and in thought. Among the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson's disposition on slavery was ambiguous as he contradicted himself many times on an issue that affected America for hundreds of years. Not only did he show hypocrisy, but also a weakness as a …

…and the Founding Fathers helped in the success of Northern abolition, the passing of the Northwest Ordinance, and most importantly the end of the slave trade in 1807. However, I feel that no amount of positive action can undermine the effect the negative actions have on our perception of the Founding Fathers, and anyone who claims that they are not hypocrites are doing exactly that, they are allowing the positive actions override the few negative actions.