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"In an 1856 letter to his wife Mary Custis Lee, Robert E. Lee called slavery "a moral and political evil." Yet he concluded that black slaves were immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially and physically. ..."
You had to own at least 20 slaves to be counted among the "Planter Class." Owning 5 or 6 six slaves pretty much looks like what it was, people in most cases buying their family members out of slavery. I have the Franklin book, From Slavery to Freedom, I also have Leon Witlick's book, Been in the Storm too Long. He has transcripts of many letters slaves wrote to one another and the first line in most letters was "can you buy me." One man amassed around $20,000 just to purchase his family out of slavery.
Thanks for the info. Absolutely beautiful. No doubt getting his family back was all that mattered and he did all he could to get them back. Which is still an understatement.
Status:
"It Can't Rain All The Time"
(set 25 days ago)
Location: North Pacific
15,754 posts, read 7,588,006 times
Reputation: 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goinback2011
Everyone's ancestors were slaves if you go back far enough in history. Some are too ignorant to know this or are just propagandists.
Biblical accounts of ancient society, slavery of people goes back 3000 plus years and is a continued practice today. That and killing are two things homo sapiens do well on this planet with no end in sight.
Since humanity has yet to mature into an advance stage of humanitarianism, these futile debates will continue with, no end in sight.
Status:
"It Can't Rain All The Time"
(set 25 days ago)
Location: North Pacific
15,754 posts, read 7,588,006 times
Reputation: 2576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellis Bell
I come across so many black people in my everyday life that have not a problem with this that it amazes me to see there people that still do.
Over heard two black people a couple of months back. One was male and the other female and the female was making a comment that I heard in passing. She mentioned slavery being a biblical tradition (may not have used the word tradition); said something about being a Christian woman and having an understanding.
The reality of slavery in this world is that there is not a race in this would on any continent that has not had their ancestry enslaved at one point in time or another. That is the reality. Why can't people turn a page?
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_mariner
This is the thing. We are talking about what happened in THIS country. Why not focus on that?
To what end? What makes America so special? Is the U.S. unique and/or different than other countries and cultures?
Perhaps if people learned about the accepted practice of slavery and its origins, then there can be an understanding of how it was brought to the U.S. by migrating people of other cultures.
Perhaps if one understood that not all people thought the same way about the people bound by the accepted practice and sought to have them to become members of their family; delegating to them chores as other family members also contributed to chores ... there were those who once acquired freedom felt such a family tie to the members of the household they remained with them rather than leaving.
It seems too that I recall reading about African Americans in this country (from that era) who also possessed individuals who were slaves to work their farms.
There were people on both sides, right and wrong, of this practice. The only thing any of us can ever learn today by continuing this debate of slavery along these lines, is an understanding of just how benevolent people can still be, even after hundreds of years of passing.
The reality of slavery is none of us (who are fortunate today) will ever understand the good, the bad or the ugly of slavery. So again, to what end will these discussion get us?
To what end? What makes America so special? Is the U.S. unique and/or different than other countries and cultures?
Perhaps if people learned about the accepted practice of slavery and its origins, then there can be an understanding of how it was brought to the U.S. by migrating people of other cultures.
Perhaps if one understood that not all people thought the same way about the people bound by the accepted practice and sought to have them to become members of their family; delegating to them chores as other family members also contributed to chores ... there were those who once acquired freedom felt such a family tie to the members of the household remained with them rather than leaving.
It seems too that I recall reading about African Americans in this country (from that era) who also possessed individuals who were slaves to work their farms.
There were people on both sides, right and wrong, of this practice. The only thing any of us can ever learn today by continuing this debate of slavery along these lines, is an understanding of just how benevolent people can still be, even after hundreds of years of passing.
The reality of slavery is none of us (who are fortunate today) will ever understand the good, the bad or the ugly of slavery. So again, to what end will these discussion get us?
Derails the argument of the other side so you know it has to be Special about "Our People".
I chalk it up to primitive minds being indoctrinated. No different than earlier societies who embraced an alternative history. We know who they were.
Slaves were treated very well in America. It's well known that slaveowners loved their slaves as if they were their own blood family. They would've never mistreated them.
Sure slaves wanted to be free, but white people knew what was better for black people than black people themselves. Blacks just didn't know how good they had it. Sure, they could beat you and sell away your family (something they did very often), but what's the big deal? Blacks got used to it anyway. Besides, the Bible told them that they were supposed to obey their master's orders.
And who are blacks to go against God, right? I think this is something that we can all agree with.
Lmao, I started reading this and thought WTF??? Then I saw it was you. Had me for a moment.
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