[Windguy]

Originally Posted by GoodLife

Slavery existed in the New World long before Europeans arrived. Native Americans conquered neighboring tribes and made them their slaves.

Looks like we're going to have to tear down any statues of them as well.

That is completely different! The South were our brothers and they turned on us. We don't want to remove their statues because of slavery--it's because they were losing traitors. And, now, the statues are there to intimidate black people. Statues of the earliest Americans aren't there to intimidate anyone. They were a noble people who fought to defend their land. They didn't betray us.

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by regas56

If we rid ourselves of all the proof of the atrocities of our past then in the future we will know longer have the reminders or the proof that they truly did happen.

I think many people think some of that stuff should go in museums as a reminder of our darkest hours.

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by valuemkt

Yes, let's burn all the books. Forget our history. etc., etc.

Can you name even one person who thinks that's a good idea? Just one?

Nobody is arguing for destroying history. They just don't want statues of traitors in a place of honor.

[manaboutown]

%*&

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by jimbomaybe

The colonist were traitors as well

But, they didn't betray us. Can you not see the difference?

Slavery was not the horror some make it to be. In fact after emancipation many slaves chose to stay with their masters. These slaves were sold from tribes in Africa to slave traders and had no skills to succeed in their new home in America. Plantation life provided an extended family that provided for economic and social needs of the slaves. Some slave owners like some parents were neglectful but that does not reflect on the whole institution of slavery which was a necessary transition phase to freedom. How fortunate are today’s blacks that were brought to this country that fought a civil war for their freedom instead of living through the genocide in their African homeland. Today many blacks such as Ben Carson contribute greatly to society thanks to the transition phase of slavery.

[edp411@yahoo.com]

As long as they don’t pull Amos ‘N Andy 😃

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by John41

Slavery was not the horror some make it to be.

Wow!

[Velvet]

In Europe in olden times, slavery was a way of life, and the slaves were your own people. Masters were instructed to be kind to their slaves. But with time it was found that hiring servants was a better and fairer way.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by John41

Some slave owners like some parents were neglectful but that does not reflect on the whole institution of slavery which was a necessary transition phase to freedom.

Originally Posted by Windguy

Wow!

Exactly..."WOW."


Maybe we just missed all of those historical books, or comments in said books, from actual slaves...about how slavery wasn't all that bad?

[Velvet]

Excellent observation, where is history from the slaves point of view?

[GoodLife]

Originally Posted by Windguy

That is completely different! The South were our brothers and they turned on us. We don't want to remove their statues because of slavery--it's because they were losing traitors. And, now, the statues are there to intimidate black people. Statues of the earliest Americans aren't there to intimidate anyone. They were a noble people who fought to defend their land. They didn't betray us.

How are statues of losing traitors intimidating black people?

PS Native Americans had slaves long before Europeans arrived. Were their slaves the wrong color?

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Excellent observation, where is history from the slaves point of view?

Just the thought of someone trying to justify the 'owning of other human beings,' with the primary difference between them and a set of golf clubs is that the slaves had to be fed...is beyond revolting.

And yet, the basis and foundation of this country's wealth and power, came off of the backs of basically...free black slave labor.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

Just the thought of someone trying to justify the 'owning of other human beings,' with the primary difference between them and a set of golf clubs is that the slaves had to be fed...is beyond revolting.

And yet, the basis and foundation of this country's wealth and power, came off of the backs of basically...free black slave labor.

Lets not consider the industrial revolution at all. Before that we only supplied raw materials to other countries factories.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by Stuart Zaikov

Lets not consider the industrial revolution at all. Before that we only supplied raw materials to other countries factories.

Revisionist history, only works on those who don't want to know (or find out)...the truth.

Slavery and Capitalism (poke here)

How slavery became America’s first big business

Historian and author Edward E. Baptist explains how slavery helped the US go from a “colonial economy to the second biggest industrial power in the world.”

Of the many myths told about American slavery, one of the biggest is that it was an archaic practice that only enriched a small number of men.

The argument has often been used to diminish the scale of slavery, reducing it to a crime committed by a few Southern planters, one that did not touch the rest of the United States. Slavery, the argument goes, was an inefficient system, and the labor of the enslaved was considered less productive than that of a free worker being paid a wage. The use of enslaved labor has been presented as premodern, a practice that had no ties to the capitalism that allowed America to become — and remain — a leading global economy.

But as with so many stories about slavery, this is untrue.

Slavery, particularly the cotton slavery that existed from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the Civil War, was a thoroughly modern business, one that was continuously changing to maximize profits.

To grow the cotton that would clothe the world and fuel global industrialization, thousands of young enslaved men and women — the children of stolen ancestors legally treated as property — were transported from Maryland and Virginia hundreds of miles south, and forcibly retrained to become America’s most efficient laborers.