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During that period of time and over the course of history, slavery was normal and a regular part of life. Was it right? of course not, but to single out the US

During that period of time and over the course of history, slavery was normal and a regular part of life. Was it right? of course not, but to single out the US as somehow different than the founding of every other nation is dishonest and only there to add to our current outrage culture. The US was founded on great principles..and to somehow discount everything that it stood for at the time and everything it's become (less racism and more freedom than almost any other nation) is evil and really makes me question the motive of the author. Does the author forget the civil war we fought where hundreds of thousands of non-slaves died for the rights of slaves? "In truth, it was a protectionist measure to increase the value of domestic slaves in areas with an abundance like his native Virginia and Maryland to the detriment of states like South Carolina who imported the bulk of their slaves" Jefferson wanted to end the international slave trade and you try to spin it as some sort of a scheme to enrich himself. You have no idea what he was thinking or his intentions. This is the sort of political spin that makes me detest articles like this. Yes, slavery was bad. Every rational person agrees. After a century, we really need to move on from it or we will never grow as a nation. My wife's relatives were slaves brought in from China and worked on our railroads. I never see any articles about it. Why? Because Asians aren't considered important enough minorities?

deogeo 7y ago
In fact, during that period, about a million Europeans were enslaved by Arabs [1]. But curiously, that's rarely brought up. In fact, it's even mostly been purged from wikipedia's entry on the Arab slave trade: "Muslims also enslaved Europeans. According to Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured between the 16th and 19th centuries by Barbary corsairs, who were vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and sold as slaves." is present in [1,2], but absent in [3]. I come from a region that had to deal with centuries of Ottoman raids, so it is hard to stomach how [4] phrases it as if it was some sort of mutual trade, and makes no mention of the pillaging and blood tax and using Europeans captured as children as soldiers to then raid for more slaves. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_slave_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_slave_trade [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arab_slave_trade&oldid=778777118 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arab_slave_trade&... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade#European_slaves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade#European_slav...

deogeo 7y ago

In fact, during that period, about a million Europeans were enslaved by Arabs [1]. But curiously, that's rarely brought up. In fact, it's even mostly been purged from wikipedia's entry on the Arab slave trade: "Muslims also enslaved Europeans. According to Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured between the 16th and 19th centuries by Barbary corsairs, who were vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and sold as slaves." is present in [1,2], but absent in [3]. I come from a region that had to deal with centuries of Ottoman raids, so it is hard to stomach how [4] phrases it as if it was some sort of mutual trade, and makes no mention of the pillaging and blood tax and using Europeans captured as children as soldiers to then raid for more slaves. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_slave_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_slave_trade [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arab_slave_trade&oldid=778777118 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arab_slave_trade&... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade#European_slaves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_slave_trade#European_slav...