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The only direct textual evidence we have concerning Jonathan Edwards’ views on slavery comes from a cryptic draft of a polemical letter he wrote defending a pro-slavery New England pastor against his anti-slavery parishioners. Though much ink has been spilled about this draft letter, Edwards scholarship has largely focused on reconstructing the social-historical conditions around the controversy. Comparatively little attention has been paid to how Edwards’ philosophical and theological commitments may have informed his views on slavery. In this paper we use the letter to attempt a rational reconstruction of Edwards’s views on slavery. Our close reading of the letter examines Edwards’s biblical and philosophical for coherence and compatibility. We then suggest that Edwards’s commitments may reflect the influence of Augustine’s case for the justice of slavery (with which Edwards was no doubt familiar). The result, we hope, is an Edwards whose pro-slavery views are clarified in light of his intellectual debts.