French intellectuals. Need I say more?
Well you might want to. That Hugo was an intellectual and French does not make him wrong.
Though IMO it does create a presumption in that direction.
One of the most interesting things I’ve learned reading ancient writers such as Tacitus, Suetonius, Plutarch, Josephus, etc. is how drastically unspoken societal presumptions change over time. All these guys who write about Spartacus just assume that their audience is against Spartacus. After all, he was a slave rebelling against his masters and thus the natural order of society.
OTOH, the various movies and TV shows about Spartacus assume, accurately, that a modern audience is generally predisposed to assume Spartacus is the good guy. After all, he’s a slave rebelling against oppression.
IMO any American who is a true American will default to the position of supporting a slave rebellion. Obviously the South of 1860 and I assume many of the neo-confederates of today would feel otherwise.
Which is why I consider those with this POV to be unAmerican or even anti-America.
Your mileage probably differs.