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Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner.
by mmcwilliams 2y ago
Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner.
- l0ng1nu5 2y agoSo were most aristocrats of the time. Applying presentism doesn't invalidate the idea.
- seanmcdirmid 2y agoIt is just hypocritical: even his time most people knew slavery was unjust.
- mmcwilliams 2y agoBut there were also abolitionists at the time, even amongst that class. Jefferson not being among them does, actually, diminish his standing and his views on justice. This quote, for example, does not acknowledge that there are also laws which are unjust to obey; such as the owning of human beings in chattel slavery.
- leptons 2y ago[flagged]
- pizza 2y agoI don’t think suggesting that his quote would imply his slaves would be justified in violating their own enslavement is any kind of presentism.
- DonHopkins 2y ago[flagged]
- DannyBee 2y agoHe never actually said it, either.
- arrowsmith 2y ago… in a society where slavery was legal, widespread, and rarely questioned. Murder has never been legal.
- mmcwilliams 2y agoThe legality of it is not in question (the purpose of this quote). It was as unjust then as it is now.