Some ironies of American slavery

(from Confessions of a Racist)

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Nothing is more ironic than the history of American slavery, and the massive ignorance that contemporary liberals have when criticizing those who fought to against Northern aggressive in the Civil War.

Slavery replaced indenture servitude in all 13 colonies well-before the American Revolution, so it was absolutely legal north and south by the time the founding fathers penned the Declaration of Independence.

Liberal activists blast the founding fathers for doing away with a provision in the Declaration that allegedly condemned slavery, a passage that was written into the original version by Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner.

Jefferson based the declaration on similar declarations already published by Virginia, one of which was written by the father of Robert E. Lee.

But as much as contemporary radicals attack the founding fathers forcing Jefferson to remove the offending passage, the truth is, the passage did not outlaw slavery – but shifted blame for the most horrendous aspects of the slave trade to King George – the capture, transport and often death of slaves – before these captives reached American shores. Ironically, even the south in the lead up to the Civil War had already outlawed such practices and included language in its constitution (unlike the American constitution at the time) that made the practice illegal under the new Confederate states.

Slavery was instituted in the south not to bring in cotton, but to bring in the tobacco crops – a growing vice among the elite in the old world of Europe. This, of course, provides an odd twist when connected to the choking death of Eric Garner and the politically correct movement (started by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg) to outlaw smoking and an implement other social control.

The South did not import slaves themselves. Early on, Dutch ships traded slaves to the south in exchange for food. While slaves played a huge role in bringing in the Virginia tobacco crop (because indentured servants were too closely in the numbers needed), it was not Virginia that passed legislation making slavery legal, but the future home of the abolitionist movement, Massachusetts.

Also, ironically, the first large slave owner in the south was a particularly vicious tobacco farmer, who sued in court to allow one person to own another – a tobacco plantation owner who also happened to be African in origin, having been born in Angola.

Reported he was so cruel to his slaves that he earned his place in history and serves as symbolic of the black on black crime that continues to this day, an oppressed people feeding on their own, while blaming white people for making it possible.

The biggest irony, of course, is the fact that Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and most of the generals who statues are being torn down by mobs today opposed slavery, and even succession, but decided not to allow abolitionist thugs from the north impose their will on the south, or to undermine states rights in their over zealousness.

They believed as Lincoln did that slavery would eventually fade away in the south as it had in the north, and for a time, there were many more groups working towards that end in the south than there were in the north. But once the war drums started, people were forced to pick sides.

The real conflict was not over freeing the slaves, but the north seeking to keep slavery from spreading to new states as these joined the union.

Succession of the confederate states would have ended that argument had Lincoln allowed these states to leave – but like the radicals of today (who tear down statues in order to elicit a violent counter reaction by conservatives) Lincoln and the abolitionists goaded the south into attacking Fort Sumter and thus gave the north an excuse to invade the south.

Lincoln did want to free the slaves (even though ironically most Republicans – then know as Know Nothings – did not). But Lincoln planned to ship blacks back to Africa -- an extremely cruel concept for a population mostly born here with no knowledge of their African roots.

Lincoln’s untimely death, ironically, saved former slaves from a long trip back to a strange land, but prompted a period of reconstruction that did more damage to race relations than slavery ever did, as greedy northerners went south to exploit the biggest land grab in history – and one that these same greedy northerners would repeat out west with the Native Americans.

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