Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 6

Thomas Jefferson
1787


[Americans, like other civilized peoples, recognize the equal rights of women; Indians do not. — TGW]
 

The women are submitted to unjust drudgery. This I believe is the case with every barbarous people. With such, force is law. The stronger sex therefore imposes on the weaker. It is civilization alone which replaces women in the enjoyment of their natural equality. That first teaches us to subdue the selfish passions, and to respect those rights in others which we value in ourselves. Were we in equal barbarism, our females would be equal drudges.