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Hero or Hypocrite Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery

...... Jefferson mentions the abolition of domestic slavery as a great object of desire where it was unhappily, introduced in their infant state. Theoretically, this phrase can be seen as his dedication to the idea that slavery should be abolished. However, the argumentation is not very reliable in this case. Slavery had, perhaps, been introduced by the British, but it had become part of the local economy and the colonists were those tolerating it. Just as Jefferson could not part with his slaves, there were so many colonists who found the slaves to be intrinsically linked to their capacity to survive economically
The second part of this paragraph does seem to point towards Jeffersons abolitionist approach in a more pragmatic manner. As such, he clearly describes what should be done in order to eliminate slavery in the American colonies. He sees this as a two steps approach: in the first phase, the introduction of slaves should be stopped, while in the second phase, freeing the existing slaves could be considered:
But previous to the enfranchisement of the slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further importations from Africa. But previous to our repeated attempts to effect this, by