This strikes me as anachronistic.  Sir Francis Drake was
a pirate too, you know.  One of the ways early govern-
ments dealt with insufficient funds to create an adequate
navy was to issue letters of marque and to set the whole
thing up as a free enterprise.  ( With all of the private contractors 
presently operating in Iraq, we seem to be returning to that era.)

As for Nat Turner, Gabriel etc., just how were slaves
who objected to slavery supposed to respond?  There
were certainly no legal routes for them to pursue, and
they sometimes responded with what seems to us
"mindless violence," in the great tradition of the European peasant 
uprisings.  I too am a fan of Douglas
Egerton's book on Gabriel's rebellion, and it should be
noted that Mr. Egerton contends that Gabriel was very
much influenced by the rhetoric of the Jeffersonian
party around the 1800 elections.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anne Pemberton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 1:28 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Nat Turner Rebellion


> Basil,
>
> John Paul Jones was a pirate - not the sort of person who is we want to
> inspire our young people. He was forgiven his criminal acts on the high 
> seas
> in exchange for his agreement to only commit his criminal acts against
> British ships. He continued his piracy under the guise of the US Navy.
>
> It was problematic for at least one first grade teacher whose dismay was 
> in
> part  responsible for my setting up the Famous Americans website. The 
> summer
> I got it up to speed, the SOLs were changed and John Paul Jones was off 
> the
> list.
>
> The SOLs = Standards of Learning - the learning objectives for Virginia
> students. Go to: http://www.pen.k12.va.us and search for Standards of 
> Learning.
>
> Nat Turner is not specifically noted in the SOLs. How much is taught
> probably depends on what is in the textbooks used in 5th and 11th grades.
>
> In general, Nat Turner should be taught about as a "freedom fighter". He
> sought to free the slaves by doing away with the slaveowners who oppressed
> them. Typically, the slaveowners over-reacted to his attempt and squashed
> the cry for freedom under more oppression.
>
>
> Anne
>
> Anne Pemberton
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.erols.com/apembert
> http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
>
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