#1 - "Amen" to what Lonny says.  He has done a wonderful job articulating
it.  I, too, have slave owners in my ancestry, and have people who fought
and died under the red flag with the cross of St. Andrew on it, which sadly
has been taken over by hippies and the fringe.  But we cannot change
history, we have to do our best to understand it and live with it, and we
really should not try to re-write it.

#2 - re Gag Orders.  I have been a member of VA-HIST for just about as long
as it has been there.  It is one of the best.  I have learned much, and made
many lasting friends.  In my zeal to gather information on a wide range of
topics (which upon reflection were NOT really VA-HIST) I have been brought
back to the straight and narrow, in a thoughful, gentle, and caring way by
some of the good folks who run the net.  Re the current issue(s) of slaves,
Jefferson, and Washington, I have learned a lot, but quite frankly about all
I want to know at this point.  I respectfully suggest that in the interest
of those uf us who would like to move on, those people who want to continue
the information interchange set up a site and "have at it" as long and as
intense as they wish.

Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lonny J. Watro" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2001 3:23 PM
Subject: Re: Monticello Slave Graves Found and Reuters Remarks


> 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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