if John Jay freed many (but not all) of his slaves, and Lincoln never owned any slaves at all, I would say that over all Lincoln did better. Still, you are right to give Jay more moral credit than Lincoln on this issue. Lincoln was a lawyer, not a farmer, and probably never had a reason to own slaves, so there was little or no sacrifice involved in his not being a slave owner. Similarly Donald Trump never owned any slaves, but John Jay was his moral superior even though Jay owned a few slaves. One more reason for recognizing that moral worth is not measured just by what you do, but how you respond to the values of your times. An action that could make someone a moral hero in the nineteenth century could make him a moral monster in the 21st.

https://teedrockwell.medium.com/save-our-imperfect-moral-heroes-e490dced158c