in Civil Rights, History, Professor's Classroom 881 Words

“The Slavery Clause” (Black History Month)

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  American History/Declaration of Independence/Black History

Come my children and you shall hear…

The BS that is fed to your ear……

Sorry, had to get a little poem in there….

We are in Black History Month and I would like to help everyone understand the work that went into dismantling the institution of slavery….and that not all that is being taught is the whole history of the lives and contributions of African-Americans……

During the first draft of the Declaration of Independence there was a clause, known as the anti-slavery clause, and when the first draft was presented to the membership, it was opposed by the Southern colonies, go figure and has been said it was deleted from the final draft to get the Southern colonies to approve of the DoI.

This is the wording of the slavery clause in the first draft of the DoI:

He [King George III] has waged cruel War against human Nature itself, violating its most Sacred Right of Life & Liberty in the Persons of a distant People who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into Slavery in another Hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their Transportation thither. This piratical Warfare, the opprobrium of infidel Powers, is the Warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. He has prostituted his Negative for Suppressing every legislative Attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable Commerce, determining to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, and that this Assemblage of Horrors might want no Fact of distinguished Die, he is now exciting those very People to rise in Arms among us, and to purchase that Liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former Crimes committed against the Liberties of one People, with Crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

Now the common belief and the history that is taught would have us believe that Jefferson wrote the first and final draft…..I am sorry but it would seem that if this idea was truly one of Jefferson’s he would have fought harder to keep it in the document….he did not!

It has been said and taught that Jefferson cursed the institution of slavery and that he did not like the fact that it existed…….historians would have us believe that he hated it so much that he freed his slaves later in life……..a slight exaggeration……he did free slaves…he had 22 and on his death bed freed 3….one of whom was a slave named Hemmings…..(wink wink)…that means that 19 we still slaves when Jefferson died…does not sound like someone who hated the institution…..Many of the founding fathers are said to have hated slavery, while still keeping slaves to do their bidding.

But I have a hard time believing that these guys were all that anti-slavery when comments like these were said:

“I have supposed the black man in his present state might not be [equal to the white man]; but it would be hazardous to affirm that equally cultivated for a few generations, he would not become so.” –Thomas Jefferson to Chastellux, 1785.

“Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people [blacks] are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them.” –Thomas Jefferson:

“The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life.” Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia

Sorry people but it does not sound like Jefferson believes that ALL MEN are created equal….to me……

If Jefferson did not write the slavery clause then who?

The first person that comes to mind is the forgotten father of independence…Thomas Paine…….I know no one is being taught this information….so ask why…..

Paine arrived in the colonies on November of 1774 and by early 1775 had written and published, African Slavery In America” which was a harsh condemnation of the institution.  And shortly after that the first anti-slavery association was established in Philadelphia.  If anyone can say that they either wrote or influenced the slavery clause of the DoI it would be Paine.

Thomas Paine can accurately be called the Father of the Abolitionist Movement in America….of all the founding fathers he alone can say that he was opposed to slavery from his first sight of it in America and that he was the FIRST to openly condemn enslavement of a people.

Paine deserves better than the treatment history has given him…he deserves the acknowledgment that he was truly an American patriot and a Founding Father…..to deny him in dissertation of American history is to deny the principles and and beliefs that make this a great country.  Academia has done all in its power to eliminate or marginalize Paine and his contributions to the cause of independence….and so far they have been successful and Americans are the worse for not knowing his story.

40 thoughts on ““The Slavery Clause” (Black History Month)”

  1. Yes, well. “I have supposed the black man in his present state might not be [equal to the white man]; but it would be hazardous to affirm that equally cultivated for a few generations, he would not become so.” –Thomas Jefferson to Chastellux, 1785” pretty much says it all…

    This idea that they (the bigots of all colours and races) are right and therefore superior to everyone else is still alive and well pretty much all over the place today. The fact that they are mostly such dreadful people and, in reality, barely superior to other forms of pond life is something they simply don’t get!

    These assholes were and still are so f*cking well covinced that their ideas and ways are right that they are quite unable to recognise that different is NOT the same as inferior and they always feel threatened by it. The, “If I’m right, then everyone else must be wrong and therefore inferior” attitude is one of the most dangerous and disgusting of all.

    So, you really do have to say that Osama Bin Jefferson’s way of thinking is alive and kicking all over the world today.

    Reply

    1. Osama Bin Jefferson? HA! HA! That is rich…I love it!

      Of course I agree with you completely…..I try to point out the huge hole in the taught history of this country…..it is like everyone is afraid to tell the real story of Jefferson and Washington and the rest of the aristocrats that were there at the beginning…..

      Sad to say, it is the same all over…bigots get in the way of a true country of equal citizens….equality? (oh crap I feel that post sneaking up on me)…..

      Reply

  2. I agree with much of the facts and statements made on this page, but I would like to add that while the myth of Jefferson and proper acknowledgement of Paine in our countries education system is not uniform, my academic experience speaks to the contrary.

    Paine is often given the props due, and Jefferson is repeatedly criticized and debated. So I disagree with this statement: “Academia has done all in its power to eliminate or marginalize Paine and his contributions to the cause of independence.”

    There is still a lot of room for more honest interpretation of both Jefferson and Paine, but I don’t think it is prudent to ignore the great work “academia” has done is exposing both these elements in regards to the founding of out nation.

    Reply

    1. Welcome Cornelius and thanx for stopping by………

      I will agree with you that in recent years more and more has been done and written on Paine and his contributions…..but with all that he is a virtual unknown beyond Common Sense……and Jefferson is still considered by most Americans as having the capability of walking on water and yes he did have some great works and yes he needs to be studied and debated…the average American has little knowledge of what it really took to birth a nation and keep it running……..

      There needs to be more taught about the founding of this country and all the players should be studied not the ones that are examples of a certain political philosophy…….

      Please visit often it is always good to have opinions and exchanges….thanx again….

      Reply

      1. Paine was neatly ostracized in the United States after he supported the French Revolution and revealed his atheism.

  3. I very recently learned of the “slavery clause” of the DOI while reading a biograph of Jefferson and am facinated by it.

    I’m no history scholar — just a lawyer with a finance degree — but I’m interested by the fact the first “truth” Jefferson characterized as “self evident” is that all “men” are created equal. That statement makes little sense if one does not view black men as equal to white men. I have a hard time believing Jefferson simply ignored the issue in a document of this importance, intended to be read around the world (including by skeptical audiences). Yet, it is obviously incongruent to say black men are “equal” to their white brethren while white men (including Jefferson) enslave black men. How could Jefferson say his slaves were “equal” to him, while continuing to enslave them? The standard explanation (at least, the one I’ve heard) is that Jefferson didn’t acknowledge innate equality between whites and blacks, and that his reference to “men” meant “white men,” only. If the actually issued DOI is the way Jefferson wrote it, that would appear to be the only way of making sense of the situation.

    In this context, the “slavery clause” strikes me as the missing piece of the puzzle that, to a large extent, adds more credence to the document and its stated purposes. The “men” to whom Jefferson was referring when he said we are all created equal would relate directly to the use of the term “men” in the omitted slavery clause (a standard rule of statutory construction). Under this view, Jefferson was, in fact, acknowledging the equality of white men and black men.

    Of course, the country as a whole, and many of the founding fathers, still had the blind-spot — words are one thing and actions are another — but I am intrigued there was something there, before the document was edited, that made it more internally consistent. I suspect Jefferson (and others) were comfortable acknowledging the basic equality of all races of men, while continuing to enslave blacks, because they had convinced themselves of the “impracticality” of freeing all slaves immediately (a school of thought that continued through the Civil War). While they can be roundly criticized for that, the mere recognition of actual inherited equality would have been a big step for a slave holding Virginian in the latter half of the 18th century.

    Reply

  6. Yes! Thomas Paine wrote African Slavery in America in early 1775 – It being the earliest publication about freedom for the slaves. And scholars attribute the anti-slavery clause in the DOI to Paine. And just imagine all the bloodshed that would have been avoided if it had not been removed!
    Now, Thomas Pained has been largely removed from history by malicious lies – He did believe in God -Just read the first page of The Age of Reason. – He said “I believe in one God and a life hereafter.”And within a few pages thereafter he cites his reason.

    And here is more that really is a national shame for excluding Thomas Paine from history!

    Thomas Paine was rightly praised by fellow ‘prime movers’ of the American Revolution for his unrelenting commitment to the American Cause. Benjamin Franklin said in 1777: “You, Thomas Paine, are more responsible than any other living person on this continent for the creation of the United States of America.” John Adams said, “Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.” And Paine’s genius was quickly confirmed by The University of Pennsylvania Trustees’ Minutes for July 4, 1780: “Mr. Thomas Paine being Proposed as a Proper person to receive the Honorary Degree of Master of Arts …” Lincoln, a great admirer of Paine, stated to close friends: “I never tire of reading Paine.” And Presidents Obama and Reagan have quoted Paine; attesting to the inspirational wisdom of Paine’s writings. And in 1925 Thomas Edison wrote: “He (Paine) was the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible”. And in the United States Congressional Records (Aug. 26, 1785) this can be found: “Resolved, That the early, unsolicited, and continued labors of Mr. Thomas Paine, in explaining and enforcing the principles of the late Revolution by ingenious and timely publications upon the nature of liberty and civil government have been well received by the citizens of these States, and merit the approbation of Congress.” This resolution was passed by a unanimous vote. And in 1998 congress decreed a location in Washington D. C. for a monument for Paine!
    Now, on Thomas Paine’s birthday, January 29, GIVE HIM CREDIT ! ; for he was “MORE RESPONSIBLE” for the creation of our United States.and for initially raising the immorally of slavery.

    Reply

    1. Thanx for the visit….I agree….Paine deserves so much more from this country than he ever received…his only “sin” was his views on religion and for any one to turn their back on him for that then the precepts he set forward are being ignored…please drop by whenever you like….I appreciate the comment and the visit….chuq

      Reply

  7. Thank you lobotero. Lets build up Paine, although he is already a Giant in his own right. – You will find out by reading THOMAS PAINE by John Eleazer Remsburg wherein there is the “Testimony of Five Hundred Witnesses” for Paine. Now available in Paper Back thanks to Google books (http//books.google.com) and being produced on the EXPRESSO BOOK MACHINE http://www.ondemandbooks.com Furthermore, there is lecture Course V-76 on a 5 CD set called The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine, and Your Freedom. “Most importantly the V-76 lectures identify the fundamental principles upon which the American Revolution was based. They show why it is now more urgent then ever that we apply those principles for our own survival in a social climate that is increasingly repressive of our liberty.” The CD set was produced by The Free Enterprise Institute – See Web Site fei-ajg.com

    Reply

    1. Both. For there is a connection. The ondemandbooks is the link to get the “Thomas Paine” book. It with the quotations of five hundred witnesses for Paine and the speech by Remsburger is moving evidence of how much a Great Writer, Genius, Innovator and Humanitarian Paine was. He, Paine, is an antecedent to Andrew J. Galambos the founder and principal lecturer of The Free Enterprise Institute. I do wish you would read the purpose of FEI at fei-ajg .com and give me your thoughts.
      Best Wishes, Jack

      Reply

      1. I have just about every book written about Paine already in my library….I am in favor of all free thinking….I see their course on Paine may be an interesting one….if I have time I will try it ….are you wanting to take courses? chuq

      4. To me this was a Libertarian leaning lecture…..he did as much bad mouthing social science as he did explaining the idea that :the masses are evil” sort of thing…..I was disappointed I wanted more Paine and less criticism….this lecture was from 1968 and is the same message that many conservatives are spouting today….thanx for link….chuq

      7. Prove to me there is science in Social Science; in that matter, in political science. What AJG does among other things is produce a social science that uses the technique of science, witch is to have one and only one precision definition for each word; The Leftist, which you are one of them, repetitively call yourselves “progressives”. – You are not “progressives” – You are not offering anything new – It’s the same old line from Stalin and Lenin. AJG does offer something new, entirely innovative such as Thomas Paine did. – It was a giant step for Freedom ! – Again, AJG offers something entirely new. – No, it is not the “same old Conservatism”. Nor is it Conservative. – It’s “Innovative” – Please respond saying only that you want to know more – or you want to know less.

      9. It is disrespectful to give a cryptic reply. I hope you will get the 5 set CD, Course V-76 “The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine, and Your Freedom” from FEI (fei-ajg.com) Now in the u-tube you listened to; did you hear “All empires crumble” and “There is a solution” ? And AJG has innovated a new and better social science wherein he uses semantic precision in the defining words so there is no confusion in understanding in what he means. That is an innovation which leads to understanding why “All empires crumble” and “There is a solution”. There is no short answer to these subjects as the state of existence we are in has come about by a compounding of many things. Thomas Paine came up with the problem of a monarchy and then gave us a solution. – That was a stroke of a genius. Yes, there were according to historians 1/3 of the population at the time were against separation, and 1/3 were indifferent leaving only 1/3 FOR. And yet there was Paine’s widely circulated pamphlet Common sense (it reaches “Best Seller” status in regards to the population of the time) – the problem being the preprocessed prejudiced and/or it is just another madman spouting off. Please lobotero, trust me – AJG was a practical rational innovator, just as Paine was .Maybe you had better review, noting the Purpose of FEI,at fei-ajg.com and the u-tube lecture. I don’t blame you to have suspicion to what you may be getting into. – I was when I first started sessions of V-50.

      10. You may have missed that there is an outline of the first six sessions of Course V-50 you can review. If at http://www.fei-ajg.com you select “COURSES” you will see in the description of V-50 the link “V-50 Six Session Outline”. -Clicking that link brings up the “Outline”. Also below the V-50 Course description you have the V-76 Course (“The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine, and Your Freedom) description. There is knowledge to be gained and it is survival of the human species as mentioned in Session 1 A of Course V-50 which you have listened to. – There is no more fooling around with hydrogen bombs in various hands today. – I have a number of quotations from Einstein and others saying that. And to justify from where to expect a solution to the very possibility of the annihilation of our species, I had to bring Thomas Paine and his likes into the picture: Paine an exceptional person – a Great Author, Genius, Innovator and Humanitarian. And he made scientific innovations.

      12. Wonderful ! I don’t want to talk politics either. Rather lets talk about morality and the philosophy of it. That is the essence of what constructs or destructs civilizations. Remember in Session 1A of Course V-50 which you listened to, it had this to ponder, “All empires crumble” And it was mentioned how the British Empire crumbled. Now are you sure the USA will not crumble ? What V-50 does is to give the warning that we are at “The Most Critical Phase in Human History.” And the “Purpose of The Free Enterprise Institute, and V-50 in particular, is to make it possible for man to inherit the the earth, and not the ants.” Now, if you missed reading the “V-50 Six Session Outline” I told you about earlier, I suggest you do it now.

      13. Morality is subjective…..we all have different versions of what we think is moral….or it is a legal question and I do not so legal questions…

        As for man and the earth….man as long as they are the smartest organism they will control until it goes bang….then we start over.

      14. What is the point of this discussion? You should be interested in what’s going on in the world. You should look into everything that comes up as though it had some effect on you, because of course, it does.- Not everyone realizes it. If you’re not curious, and most people aren’t, you might as well go lie on the beach and wait for the bomb. It’s just a question of time with your attitude.

      15. A good question….it appears that you have some interest in me taking these courses…I am interested in what happens if you had spent more time on the site you would realize that….we have different angles from which we look at the events in the world….thanx for stopping by….

  9. The Courses are like Common Sense and The Rights of Man in that they are Progressive, extracting problems never before unveiled in plain language that lead to a solution for a more moral world. You are Conservative offering nothing new.

    Reply

    1. Well you may have to wait longer….I am in the middle of something and this is not my only gig….live with it

      Reply
  11. Pingback: A Different Look At The DoI – In Saner Thought

Leave a Reply