Americans Are in Desperate Need of a Lesson on the History of Slavery

Democrat hopeful Pete Buttigieg removing Thomas Jefferson's memory from the public square and ending the practice of naming public events in his honor. The legacy of Jefferson, he said, is "problematic." "There's a lot to admire in his thinking and his philosophy," he said, "but then again if you plunge into his writings, especially his notes on the state of Virginia, you know that he knew slavery was wrong."

It's a stunning display of his ignorance, certainly. But interestingly, Buttigieg has unknowingly pinpointed precisely why Thomas Jefferson should be eternally revered by our society, which believes that enslaving other human beings is wrong.

That is, that Jefferson knew that it was wrong at the time.

Thomas Sowell explains, brilliantly as ever:

Of all the tragic facts about the history of slavery, the most astonishing to an American today is that, although slavery was a worldwide institution for thousands of years, nowhere in the world was slavery a controversial issue prior to the 18th century[.] ...

Everyone hated the idea of being a slave but few had any qualms about enslaving others. Slavery was just not an issue, not even among intellectuals, much less among political leaders, until the 18th century — and only then in Western civilization.

Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders. You could research all of 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there.

In other words, these prominent men having turned against an institution that had been normal throughout human history was an expression of a revolutionary idea. To imagine that the idea that slavery is morally wrong would be embraced by everyone overnight,

Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders.”

Hamilton, especially...and slightly later than he should have been, but still very legitimately, Benjamin Franklin

That’s because Buttgood weaselface is a communist and educated moron steeped in socialist ideology. He’s a devotee of the Howard Zinn school of revisionist thinking where America is the great satan and Stalin was brilliant and would’ve succeeded if only those meddling capitalists hadn’t ruined it all with their materialistic needs.

Being a socialist/communist or an abortionists or a cultural suicide fetishist nitwit (what I now call the PC / Woke crowd on account to their complicity to whatever seeks to destroy us, be it the Cultural Marxism that spawned them or the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood) are all worse than owning a slave.

Slavery is not a good thing, but it isn’t the worse thing ever.

only that earlier in his long life Franklin was ambivalent

he was a bit older when he became involved in emancipation efforts, working in established organizations, etc.

that’s all

Hamilton, it should be noted, was always against slavery because of the horror he saw in the Caribbean

That’s exactly right, and of course the article gets into some of that nuance

The real world is messy when people with Big Ideas start trying to implement them

Children can dream up Big Ideas...but it takes real adults to actually implement them

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