Posted on 10/02/2007 12:41:30 PM PDT by SJackson
Those who want to discredit the United States and to deny our role as historys most powerful and pre-eminent force for freedom, goodness and human dignity invariably focus on Americas bloody past as a slave-holding nation. Along with the displacement and mistreatment of Native Americans, the enslavement of literally millions of Africans counts as one of our two founding crimesand an obvious rebuttal to any claims that this Republic truly represents the land of the free and the home of the brave. According to America-bashers at home and abroad, open-minded students of our history ought to feel more guilt than pride, and strive for reparations or other restitution to overcome the nations uniquely cruel, racist and rapacious legacy.
Unfortunately, the current mania for exaggerating Americas culpability for the horrors of slavery bears no more connection to reality than the old, discredited tendency to deny that the U.S. bore any blame at all. No, its not true that the peculiar institution featured kind-hearted, paternalistic masters and happy, dancing field-hands, any more than its true that America displayed unparalleled barbarity or enjoyed disproportionate benefit from kidnapping and exploiting innocent Africans.
An honest and balanced understanding of the position of slavery in the American experience requires a serious attempt to place the institution in historical context and to clear-away some of the common myths and distortions.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
where are my reparations!?!
And is often forgotten, Native American tribes often had Native American slaves. The Cherokee upgraded, and had black slaves, too, at the time of the trail of tears.
My ancestors had a whole bunch and I feel no guilt either.
T'wasn't me.
# 1863 U.S. frees southern slaves through the Emancipation Proclamation
# 1865 U.S. abolishes slavery (The Thirteenth Amendment)[2]
# 1869 Portugal abolishes slavery in the african colonies
# 1873 Puerto Rico abolishes slavery
# 1873 Treaty between Britain and Zanzibar and Madagascar to suppress slave trade [4]
# 1874 Slavery abolished in British occupied Ghana(Gold Coast)[5]
# 1886 Cuba abolishes slavery[2]
# 1888 Brazil abolishes slavery[2]
# 1890 Brussels Act - Treaty granting anti-slavery powers the right to stop and search ships for slaves
# 1894 Korea abolishes slavery[7]
# 1906 Slavery abolished in British occupied Gambia [5]
# 1910 China abolishes slavery[8]
# 1916 Slavery Abolished in British occupied Nigeria [5]
# 1921 Nepal abolishes slavery[9]
# 1924 League of Nations Temporary Slavery Commission
# 1926 Slavery Convention. Bound all signatories to end slavery CONVENTION TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE AND SLAVERY (25 Sep 1926)
# 1928 Iran abolishes slavery[10]
# 1928 Slavery abolished in British occupied Sierra Leone[5]
# 1942 Ethiopia abolishes slavery
# 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights bans slavery globally
# 1952 Qatar abolishes slavery
# 1962 Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery
# 1962 Yemen abolishes slavery
# 1963 United Arab Emirates abolishes slavery
# 1970 Oman abolishes slavery
# 1980 Mauritania abolishes slavery[11]
I used to think Medved was a lightweight; but my opinion is changing vastly for the better with every piece of his I read. This one is a stunning aggregation of claims and counterpoint. Saved to hard drive.
Over 59 million people in foreign lands freed by American Soldiers.
I make ZERO apologies for slavery, unless of course, we want to apologize to the Irish too, and the Chinese.
Do you have a link for that article?
Me too! Quite frankly to this point I can’t stand M Medved but I give credit where credit is due.
Salute Mr Medved! May this be the beginning of much more open dialogue of this topic and many others concerning race.
While your observation is undoubtedly true, there is more to the story. A sin always gives the opposition a weapon, and as the full text of the Medved article makes clear, the US moved swiftly to wipe out slavery, and later, Jim Crow (although not fast enough, but, in comparison with other nations, faster than any other nation).
The more I read, however, the more I see that the fight of good vs. evil has been weaponized on the left by any transgression whatsoever on the right. Organized socialism and communism have been behind not only so many of our social ills, but also behind the perception of our motives, trumpeted in the press, and the calumny of false "solutions."
I recommend to any of you interested in our current dilemma to get a copy of a long out-of-print book entitled The Fabian Freeway by Rose L. Martin. It is a history of the socialist movement within the United States and Europe. As you can see, the Fabian Society, of which Tony Blair is a member, long ago succeeded in socializing Europe. This evil of anti-Christian social engineering has made Europe easy pickings for Muslim infiltration and overthrow.
We really must understand that the left wing will say anything and tell any lie and use any "shame, shame" device to weaken the right, the open, the transparent and the truthful history and institutions in this country.
Maybe not, but in case you are, let's not leave out the English oppression of the Celtic peoples, the burning of the native Scots out of the Highlands, and genocide and forced transportation against the Irish for 800 years before the Irish Republic finally got freedom in the 20th century. The terrorism between the Irish and Northern Ireland and the UK is just the parting shots.
I'm not beating up on the English, either; I'm saying that humankind has to evolve away from material man to spiritual man, and it is taking a long time. Jesus said, "I came not to bring peace, but the sword." He was not talking about a kingdom that already exists; but prophesying what steps mankind would have to go through spiritually before achieving a just society. The US Constitution was a huge step in the right direction. We allow it to continue to be assaulted by lefties at our peril.
To Bring this discussion back to Slavery, most people do not know that the East African slave trade did not end until the Royal Navy sailed warships into the ports and told the local potentate that the slave market would be closed or else.
“...and almost NO ONE had it worse at the time or since than American Indians.”
The American Indian tribes slaughtered and enslaved one another for centuries before any European ever set foot on the North American continent, and continued to do so for at least 350 years afterward.
“...and almost NO ONE had it worse at the time or since than American Indians.”
The American Indian tribes slaughtered and enslaved one another for centuries before any European ever set foot on the North American continent, and continued to do so for at least 350 years afterward.
Aw, c'mon. There ain't no culture difference. American Blacks are just rednecks with melanin.
The idea that rural Southern whites and rural Southern Blacks are so different was invented by ole massa to justify slavery and to play Blacks and poor whites against each other. Of course, nowadays it's the liberals who insist that emotional worship services are beautiful when engaged in by poor Blacks but stupid and embarrassing when engaged in by poor whites.
The Greeks and Romans viewed slavery as a victory for humanity. The other option was to slaughter every man, woman and child of a defeated enemy.
A slave at least had hope. He might get a kind master, he could escape, he could be freed, he might earn his freedom. A dead man can not hope for improvement in his condition.
This is not a defense of slavery, just pointing that it was not always viewed as we view it now.
Also, many Scots came to this country the same way.
I have read that book (it is in my University’s library). It is a good read.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.