Thomas Jefferson's Conflicted Legacy on Slavery to Be Explored
Nicholas Guyatt to give talk hosted by the Ealing Historical Association
Portrait of Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale, c. 1791
May 5, 2026
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Ealing Branch of the Historical Association is turning its attention to one of the most troubling contradictions at the heart of America’s founding story. On Tuesday 12 May, Professor Nicholas Guyatt, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, will deliver a timely and provocative lecture titled “Jefferson’s Wolf: The Struggle to End Slavery in the Founding Era” at Ealing Green Church.
The talk comes just weeks before 4 July 2026, the semiquincentenary of the Declaration and its famous assertion that “all men are created equal.” Yet its principal author, Thomas Jefferson, enslaved more than a hundred people at the time he wrote those words, and many hundreds more over the course of his life. He freed only a handful, both during his lifetime and in his will. For historians, citizens and students alike, the question remains: how could the man who articulated the Enlightenment ideal of equality be so deeply entangled in the institution of slavery?
Professor Guyatt’s lecture will examine how Jefferson developed his ideas about race, freedom and human hierarchy, and why he clung to them even when challenged by contemporaries who urged him to take a more decisive stand against slavery. The talk will also explore the long shadow of Jefferson’s inaction — how his failure to confront slavery shaped the politics of the early republic and contributed to the conflicts that would eventually tear the United States apart.
The subject is one Professor Guyatt has researched extensively, and the evening promises to offer both historical insight and contemporary resonance as the world reflects on the meaning of the Declaration 250 years on.
The event takes place at Ealing Green Church, The Green, W5 5QT. Doors open at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start.
The event is open to members and visitors. Membership costs £15 per year, while visitors can attend individual talks for £5. Tickets for this lecture are available via Eventbrite.
Meetings are usually held on the second Tuesday of each month at Ealing Green Church at 7.30pm, with the exception of the November meeting which takes place at Twyford School at 6.30pm. Talks are live events but with the speaker’s permission the association aims to make a recording available afterwards to those registering on Eventbrite (the booking link will be available on the society's website one month in advance of each talk).
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