Examines Jefferson's response to Gabriel's Uprising and argues that Jefferson employed the language of criminal theory in urging Virginia Governor James Monroe to spare the lives of convicted conspirators for the sake of justice and the state's image before the enlightened world. Jefferson's analysis of the slave rebels' acts and intentions makes clear that - at least in abstract, philosophical terms - Jefferson saw the slave uprising as justified, while he viewed white Virginia's resort to deadly force to counter the revolt as at best excusable.