but, in order to do this, he had to ignore the exclusion of the poor, women, and members of different races from citizenship. Apess, on the other hand, saw all the people on the North American continent as a group. But, they were a group whose interests often conflicted. For Apess, the only moral and rational solution was to ignore artificial distinctions--such as skin color--and treat all the inhabitants of America as equals. Just as Jefferson held that the claims of old, traditional, hereditary aristocracies were invalid for America, Apess said that the white people in America needed to put aside their inherited prejudice against other races.
Apess' argument is, because it takes all factors into account, even more rational than that of the rational Jefferson. He even noted that the leaders the people had elected were also leaders in perpetuating the myths about racial differences. But, the problems that Apess saw were not easy to overcome. Few Americans would speak out, and, in general, the people held to their old ideas more firmly than J
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