Freethought & Rationalism Archive

themistocles · 07-18-2003, 10:28 AM

Ben Franklin was president of an abolitionist society...

Quote:

Originally posted by Pyrrho
Lincoln did not free all of the slaves; he only freed those who were in the Confederate states, which did not include states like Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland, which, I believe, were states where it was legal to have slaves. In other words, he only freed slaves in states over which he did not have control at the time, probably in an effort to aid the North in winning the war.

As opposed to the slaves owned by Northerners.

fatherphil · 07-18-2003, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grad Student Humanist
Assuming there would have been a war, it would have been far better for it to have taken place in 1780 with the abolition of slavery then to let slavery persist for almost 85 more years.

but in 1870, the pro slavery faction would have almost cerainly won.

Zora · 07-23-2003, 09:37 PM

Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. He was out of the country when the Constitution was drafted, but received a copy and gave his objections regarding it. His objections and those of others led to the Bill of Rights.

His draft of the Declaration was debated, and his original wording regarding the abolition of slavery was struck out in deference to South Carolina and Georgia (from Jefferson's autobiography). There were also some objections among the Northern states, I believe.

He corresponded with his contemporaries regarding his distaste for slavery. He at one point thought blacks were not as intelligent as whites, but changed his mind when he was presented with convincing arguments that their seemingly lower intelligence was instead due to lack of opportunity, education, and social conditioning. (Given the same advantages as whites, black were equally capable.)

Sally Hemming was his wife's half-sister...fathered my Mrs. Jefferson's dad and one of his slaves. The Jefferson's "inherited" her at dear old dad's death.

Since he knew the attitude of society towards blacks, he knew it would not do any good to "free" them. There would be no jobs, no education, and no opportunities. He believed that since white America had created this problem, we were obligated to care for the black people kindly until such time as society was willing to accept them.

In his old age, he regretted that he had not accomplished all he would have liked toward doing away with slavery, and hoped that the younger politicians would take up the cause.

If you believe his decision was immoral, what would you have done under the same circumstances?

The University of Virginia has many of his writings on line. I have a book of many of his writings if you need exact quotes.

07-23-2003, 09:37 PM	#23
Zora Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Missouri Posts: 571	Founders and slavery Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. He was out of the country when the Constitution was drafted, but received a copy and gave his objections regarding it. His objections and those of others led to the Bill of Rights. His draft of the Declaration was debated, and his original wording regarding the abolition of slavery was struck out in deference to South Carolina and Georgia (from Jefferson's autobiography). There were also some objections among the Northern states, I believe. He corresponded with his contemporaries regarding his distaste for slavery. He at one point thought blacks were not as intelligent as whites, but changed his mind when he was presented with convincing arguments that their seemingly lower intelligence was instead due to lack of opportunity, education, and social conditioning. (Given the same advantages as whites, black were equally capable.) Sally Hemming was his wife's half-sister...fathered my Mrs. Jefferson's dad and one of his slaves. The Jefferson's "inherited" her at dear old dad's death. Since he knew the attitude of society towards blacks, he knew it would not do any good to "free" them. There would be no jobs, no education, and no opportunities. He believed that since white America had created this problem, we were obligated to care for the black people kindly until such time as society was willing to accept them. In his old age, he regretted that he had not accomplished all he would have liked toward doing away with slavery, and hoped that the younger politicians would take up the cause. If you believe his decision was immoral, what would you have done under the same circumstances? The University of Virginia has many of his writings on line. I have a book of many of his writings if you need exact quotes.

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