Mr. Dixon writes: "None of the founding fathers in the slaves states freed their slaves." I guess that Washington was no a founding father? Or Henry Laurens in South Carolina? Or Ben Franklin (Pa. was a slave state when he freed his slaves). Also, even Jefferson freed a few (8 in all); Yes, TJ was in debt, but that is how he chose to live is life. Just as Henry Wiencek refers you to his book on Washington, I urge you to read the last two chapters of my book Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson where I deal with some of the issues set out below. Richard Dixon wrote: >Your query on the antipathy to Jefferson among many slave study academics >should elicit some interesting responses. In the posts, much is made of >Washington freeing his slaves. All credit to what he did, but what he did >was provide for their manumission after the death of his wife. He benefited >from the system during his entire life and intended that Martha also retain >the slaves until her death. As it turned out, she emancipated them early, >possibly as one post notes, because of the fear that she would be >assassinated. It should also be noted that this did not include the dower >slaves Martha brought to the marriage, who were passed to the heirs of her >first husband and continued in slavery. Not that Washington could have done >anything to prevent that, but during his life, he was largely silent on >slavery, while Jefferson was vocal on the evils of the system, contrary to >one post that essentially claimed Jefferson did nothing during his life to >reject this institution. None of the founding fathers in the slaves states >freed their slaves. There is anecdotal evidence that some planters did, but >because Jefferson did not, he alone is branded as immoral. Under Virginia >law, slaves were personal property, and no slaves could be freed unless >released by the creditors of the owner. Jefferson, continuously in debt >from the time he left the presidency, could never have secured release of >the slaves as collateral for his debts. Again, under Virginia law, the >owner was responsible for the upkeep of the freed slave for one year when >the slave could remain in Virginia, a financial obligation Jefferson could >not meet. One post asserted that Washington waived this requirement that >the slave leave Virginia after one year, which Washington had no authority >to do. Jefferson was condemned in one post for sitting on the mountain at >Monticello, spending his money on wine rather than arranging his finances >to free his slaves. Possibly, he could have been a better money manager. >Maybe this poster has done research not yet made public, but the depression >in Virginia in 1819 made all planters land poor and locked into the chattel >slavery system. And to further batter the Jefferson image, he is depicted >as the father of children by his slave Sally Hemings, all of whom he kept >in slavery without acknowledgment or favor. This on evidence so thin that >no contemporary observer has ever surfaced to testify, even though two of >the children were born after the claim by Callender in the press, while >Jefferson was president, and in the public eye. Jefferson was worse than >that however. One poster claims that "no one disputes" that Hemings was the >half-sister to Martha Jefferson. Well, there is absolutely no proof of >this, but this provides another basis for condemnation, because if >Jefferson is not the father, but another Jefferson is, the children are his >nieces and nephews and he holds them as slaves. An so on. > >Richard E. Dixon >Attorney at Law >4122 Leonard Drive >Fairfax, VA 22030 >703-691-0770 >fax 703-691-0978 > > > > >>[Original Message] >>From: Bland Whitley <[log in to unmask]> >>To: <[log in to unmask]> >>Date: 12/6/2005 12:32:29 PM >>Subject: Re: "common-sense Jeffersonian conservative principles" >> >> >>Apropos to this current debate over the relative sins/merits of >>Jefferson and Washington: what accounts for the central importance >>members of this list have placed on the personal character of these >>founders? The argument that seems to be developing places Jefferson at >>one end of the political and cultural spectrum of Revolutionary-era >>Virginia and Washington at the other. Whereas Jefferson becomes the >>original sinner, the source of scientific racism, parochial >>states-rights ideology, and opportunistic governance, Washington shines >>forth as the far-sighted, anti-racist model for a fair-minded republic. >>Are there not more complicated, incisive ways of analyzing this >>material? Or does the health of our republic and our view of history >>depend on knocking down one straw man and elevating another? >> >>I ask these questions not in defense of Jefferson. As most of his recent >>biographers have shown, he grows more personally repellant the closer >>one gets to him. But the recent campaigns against him seem to adopt an >>attitude that America will suddenly be sanitized by expunging his >>influence over our political culture. If only we follow in the footsteps >>of those with sterling character (like Adams and Washington), the >>argument goes, we can finally overcome the knotty contradictions that >>bedevil us. Well, sorry, I don't buy it. I may find inspiration in the >>leadership and character of Washington and in the words and ideals of >>Jefferson (some of them anyway), but it seems folly to reduce our study >>of the past to a search for appropriate models. >> >>Washington, as Henry Wiencek has shown, did in some respects transcend >>the political culture that produced him, while Jefferson seems to have >>been consumed by it, but both ultimately shared more similarities than >>differences. Somewhere in there may lie a more fruitful discussion. Or >>maybe not. >> >>Bland Whitley >> >>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the >>instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html >> >>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions >>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html >> >> > >To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions >at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > -- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, OK 74104-3189 918-631-3706 (office) 918-631-2194 (fax) [log in to unmask] To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html