[Leesylvanian]

Two things in my previous replies you must have missed: 1) I didn't read the article this thread is based on - I don't care what the author says, I'm responding to some of the replies; and 2) I don't want to make life a permanent tribunal on the sins of the past,as you state - I stated very clearly that I don't impose today's moral values on events of the past. I'm just pointing out misconceptions by some on this thread.

Another mistake you made is when you imply Virginia could have abolished slavery at any time. Don't forget, we had 160 years under the King and Parliament before the Revolution, and had the Civil War not occurred, slavery probably would have died a slow, natural death due to its increasingly non-profit nature as industry and technology advanced. We'll never know...

[x]

I did miss your statement that you don't apply our values to the past, so parts of what I said may not apply to you personally. But I stand by what I've said as a characterization of how these debates go in general.

had the Civil War not occurred, slavery probably would have died a slow, natural death due to its increasingly non-profit nature as industry and technology advanced. We'll never know...

Agreed, but if "we'll never know," then surely "could" is preferable to "would." And people living at the time could only judge by what people actually said, not by some pattern that we coming afterwards see in history.

Finally, I urge you to read the article and see what you think about it. Sometimes reading what a real loony on one's own "side" thinks, can make one rethink things, or at least understand what people on the other "side" are reacting to.