Henry--

You wrote a terrific, very teachable book--both my students, but equally myself, learned much from it.

We are not very far apart, I think.  You tend to emphasize the progressive, and the optimistic; I tend to focus more on the conservative (reactionary, maybe?), and the pessimistic.

We both agree that there was an emancipatory moment, a path not taken.  And we both agree that men like Washington, Jefferson, Mason, even Henry, perceived something of that promise, and yet failed, for whatever reason, to bring it to fruition. 

You are quite right that there were men among the founders who perceived the morality of slavery correctly, and that they established an ethical position from which we can judge the founders as a whole.  Since that is the nub of whatever disagreement we have, I think I shall concede the point and bow out :)

Warm regards,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University