No one is trying to say that slavery is right. Most of the people who are
commenting  are trying to suggest that we try to understand why Jefferson
and others did what they did.

To me, slavery was morally wrong. Yet, many of my ancestors held slaves. I
am a product of the VA planter class. That is my heritage. I hope that my
ancestors found God's forgiveness for what they did. I don't expect nor do I
want anyone elses forgiveness for my ancestors' actions, especially from
those who are living in this day and age.

By the time my grandparents arrived on this planet 3 out of 4 were dirt
poor. My maternal grandmother in particular grew up in a hollow in West
Virginia and lived in a house with a dirt floor. Her great grandfather, a
poor Appalacian carpenter who could only sign his name with an "X", was a
Sgt. in the 10th WV Union Vol. Infantry during the Civil War. He was
captured a few miles from his home during a terrible blizzard, was force
marched to Richmond, and then transported to Andersonville Prison, where he
died 5 months later, most likely of starvation. There is no record of his
grave there.

I'm sure he would have preferred to be free and back home on his poor-soiled
Appalacian land working his trade.

But, the issue is not whether or not slavery is right or wrong. I hope we
all know the answer to that. The issue here is what caused people like
Jefferson to do the things they did. And can we see our own selves doing
these same things or would be be strong, go against the majority, and make a
stand for what is right. Did the people of Europe do this during WWII? Or
did they allow the Nazi way of life rule, as long as it didn't effect their
style of living, too much. Will there come a time in our future that
something like this will occur again? Well, it may not be slavery. It may be
something else, but I think it is quite possible. It's human nature to not
do anything when your own life style is not in jeapordy. And so we must
remain ever vigilant, and we must try to be as empathetic as we can to
previous generations. We all agree, I hope, that slavery was wrong. But, it
happened. And, I'd like to understand those who made it happen.

Lonny J. Watro
>
> I suppose we could go ask the Scots-Irish if they would prefer to be
slaves?
>
> Paul Finkelman
>

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