It's so easy to judge 19th Century men through 21st Century glasses, isn't it?
At the time, slavery had existed on Earth since the dawn of civilization.
Why don't you go ahead and tell us what you think of Jesus Christ for praising the Roman Centurion instead of reading the Centurion the Riot Act because the Centurion was a slave owner.
And, while you are at it, don't forget to tell us what you think of Mrs. U.S. Grant bringing her slave "Black Julia" to Grant's Headquarters to look after little Jesse Grant whenever she visited her husband.
And don't forget to tell us what you think about that guy on the One Dollar Bills in your wallet and the Quarters in your pocket.
There were plenty of 19th Century men who could see how wrong slavery was. Take Alexis de Tocqueville, for instance, who in the 1830's, despite being born a privileged French aristocrat, fully comprehended the damage that slavery was doing to both the enslaved negroes and the slaveholders and other white Southerners who had become so dependent on them.
Millions of Northerners opposed slavery in 1860 even though by doing so they subjected themselves to being called "niggerlovers" by Northern Democrats merely for suggesting that slavery should be abolished. Even many Southerners like Robert E. Lee clearly saw the evils of slavery -- yet they did very little to oppose it. At best, they treated it like Ross Perot's crazy aunt in the basement. It seems very apparent that the Confederates who opposed slavery simply succumbed to peer pressure and ended up walking off the cliff with the rest of the lemmings. They had the courage to join (and lead) the crowd in battle but not to stand up to them on the issue of slavery. That was a deep and fatal flaw that cannot easily be whitewashed -- try as they might -- by the Confederate glorifiers.
And, while you are at it, don't forget to tell us what you think of Mrs. U.S. Grant bringing her slave "Black Julia" to Grant's Headquarters to look after little Jesse Grant whenever she visited her husband.
Neither Mrs. Grant nor U.S. Grant, for all of their flaws, ever fought for a country that was founded upon and dedicated to preserving slavery.
And don't forget to tell us what you think about that guy on the One Dollar Bills in your wallet and the Quarters in your pocket.
It is just as wrong to idolize the founding fathers as it is to condemn their entire lives for being slaveholders. I have a great deal of respect for the achievements of Washington and Jefferson, but I would have a great deal more respect for them had they more actively opposed slavery. Washingon's descendants certainly paid for his failures in that regard.