Topics: Black History

Jefferson’s Vision of Independence

Three weeks before the Civil War broke out and began watering American soil with soldiers’ blood, the vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens, addressed his fellow Confederates in Savannah, Georgia. His infamous words—known to history as the “Cornerstone Speech”—explained that the “cornerstone” of the Confederacy “rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition.”1

It was necessary for the Southern states to break away from America, Stephens told his audience, because the proslavery “cornerstone” of the Confederacy was “exactly the opposite idea” to the principles that America’s Founding Fathers had agreed upon in 1776. Stephens explained,

The prevailing ideas entertained by him [Thomas Jefferson] and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.

These words startle modern Americans, who have been taught their whole lives to be ashamed of, or even to condemn, the Founding Fathers because of their alleged bigotry. In particular, why did the vice president of the Confederacy, a sickening racist, regard Thomas Jefferson as a herald of equality? Didn’t he know that Jefferson lived on a plantation and owned slaves? Couldn’t he have appealed to Jefferson’s legacy as a racist slaveowner?

To the contrary, the generations that came after the Founders (and Stephens himself, despite his manifold faults) had a very different understanding of Jefferson. They knew much about him that most Americans have never heard today.

In his article, Was Thomas Jefferson America’s First Abolitionist?2 former University of Virginia law professor Robert F. Turner does a remarkable job rebuilding the true, historical Thomas Jefferson. He not only debunks the myth that Jefferson unequivocally fathered children with his slave but also documents Jefferson’s many attempts to fight and abolish the slave trade. Turner also introduces a document of premier importance—Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration Draft

In June 1776, the colonies had already been warring against Great Britain for more than a year. So Congress, realizing that full separation from Great Britain was on the horizon, called upon Thomas Jefferson—who was only 33, but brilliant beyond his years—to draft the Declaration of Independence. It would be America’s “breakup letter” articulating the reasons that the colonies had to separate from Great Britain.

Hunched over his portable writing desk for 17 days in the sweltering summer heat, Jefferson condensed the great political philosophy of America into a few basic principles: there is a God; He creates men with inalienable rights; governments exist to protect those rights; and it is the right of the people to replace a government that violates those principles.

Years later, after Thomas Jefferson passed away in 1826, his grandson found that original rough draft, which had survived for half a century. Knowing that Americans would want to see that important document for themselves, Jefferson’s grandson produced exact facsimiles of his grandfather’s handwritten manuscript. These pages contain a beautiful treasure never seen by most Americans.

When, in July 1776, the colonies began debating the words that Jefferson had drafted, the delegates understood how important it was to be unified in their grievances against Great Britain. This way the British crown could not divide the colonies over disagreements on the grievances. As Benjamin Franklin reportedly quipped, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”3

The Slave Trade Grievance

This resulted in certain of Jefferson’s original grievances being struck from the final version. One of these, Jefferson’s last and longest grievance, was a scathing condemnation of the slave trade. Jefferson opened:

He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.

This is already a stunning indictment, but Jefferson goes on. The emphasis is his own:

This piratical warfare, the opprobrium [disgrace] of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain.

Here Jefferson essentially accuses King George III of violating the commandment “you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7) by claiming the label of “Christian” while acting like the “infidel powers”—the Muslim Barbary Pirates on the north coast of Africa, who began and perpetuated the intercontinental slave trade. The king, although identifying himself with Jesus Christ, was acting no better than wicked nonbelievers.

Jefferson still was not done:

Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he [King George III] has prostituted his negative [veto] for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce [the slave trade]…. (emphasis original)

This is the crux of the grievance. In the years before the American Revolution, many colonies had pushed to restrict or ban the slave trade. Some colonies, like Connecticut and Rhode Island, had succeeded.4 But most attempts had been vetoed by Britain, including those by South Carolina (1760), Massachusetts (1771, 1774, and 1774 again), Delaware (1775), and Pennsylvania (1775).5 Even efforts by Virginia (1766, 1769, 1772) to impose taxes on imported slaves and discourage the slave trade were also vetoed.6

And thus, Jefferson’s final and longest grievance condemns the king for imposing slaves and the slave trade on the colonies against their will.

There is also one word in this grievance that stands out among the rest: MEN. Nearly all the words in the draft are lowercase and cursive, yet MEN is not only printed but also capitalized. This word was used in referring to all those who were being enslaved and trafficked in the evil slave trade. The word harkens back to the opening of the Declaration: “we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.” Too often, Americans hear that Jefferson did not truly believe that all men are created equal;7 yet in the very same document where he penned those words, Jefferson appeals to the humanity of the Africans who were bought and sold in the transatlantic slave trade—evidence from Jefferson’s own writing of his sincere belief that all men are created equal in the image of God.

A majority of the colonies agreed that the king’s imposition of slaves and the slave trade on the colonies was legitimate grounds for separation and approved the grievance. Tragically, South Carolina and Georgia—the two most southern (and likely the most proslavery) colonies—opposed the grievance.8 The grievance was removed.

But the failures of two states do not negate the significance of Jefferson’s vision. His Declaration draft stands today as a testament to his righteous crusade for equality. His outspoken denunciation of slavery and his biting condemnation of the king of Great Britain are essential parts of his story. His own handwritten words—and not the contrived smears of modern academics—are why, for so many generations of Americans, Thomas Jefferson stood as a visionary and champion of the freedom and equality of all people.

1 Alexander Stephens, “Speech Delivered on the 21st March, 1861, in Savannah, Known as “The Corner Stone Speech,” Reported in the Savannah Republican,” March 21, 1861, Alexander H. Stephens in Public and Private with Letters and Speeches, Before, During, and Since the War, ed. Henry Cleveland (National Publishing Company, 1866), 721.

2 Robert F. Turner, “Was Thomas Jefferson America’s First Abolitionist?” May 20, 2021, Minding the Campus, https://mindingthecampus.org/2021/05/20/was-thomas-jefferson-americas-first-abolitionist/.

3  Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and A Life of the Author, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan and Dennet, 1844), I:408.

4 W. E. B. Du Bois, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1896), 222-223.

5 Du Bois, Suppression of the African Slave-Trade (1896), 20, 219, 221-222.

6 Du Bois, Suppression of the African Slave-Trade (1896), 12.

7 See, for example, Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.” Aug 14, 2019, New York Times Magazine, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/black-history-american-democracy.html; Annette Gordon-Reed, “Thomas Jefferson’s Vision of Equality Was Not All-Inclusive. But It Was Transformative,” Feb 20, 2020, Time, https://time.com/5783989/thomas-jefferson-all-men-created-equal/; Melissa De Witte, “How the meaning of the Declaration of Independence changed over time” July 1, 2020, Stanford Report, https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/07/meaning-declaration-independence-changed-time; Shankar Vedantam et al., “The Founding Contradiction: Thomas Jefferson’s Stance On Slavery,” June 29, 2020, National Public Radio, https://www.npr.org/2020/06/29/884634146/the-founding-contradiction-thomas-jeffersons-stance-on-slavery.

8 Thomas Jefferson, Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1914), 33.

FAQ: Founders & Slavery

The issue of slavery in America’s Founding Era was complex. Initially, many people saw slavery as a normal part of life; this perspective is acknowledged by Chief Justice John Jay, who stated that, before the War for Independence, very few “doubted the propriety and rectitude of it.”1

However, the changing attitude towards slavery was evident even before the War for Independence when several colonies passed anti-slavery laws.2 (Each of these were overturned by King George III.3) Notably, a section of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson criticized the king for maintaining slavery and the slave trade.4

After the Declaration of Independence, states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey abolished slavery.5 Additionally, Virginia, in 1778, outlawed the further importation of slaves.6

Among the Founders themselves, some slave-owners, such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, openly spoke against slavery.7 Conversely, others were demonstrably pro-slavery.8 There were also Founders involved in abolition movements. For example, Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush helped establish the first abolition society in 1774.9 Furthermore, John Jay served as president of the New York abolition society.10

Again, this was a complicated issue for Americans during the Founding Era, but the actions of many demonstrate that this reprehensible practice had much opposition among the Founders. For more information on this topic, please see these additional resources.

Endnotes

1 John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, ed. Henry P. Johnston (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891), 3:342, to the English Anti-Slavery Society, June 1788.

2 W.O. Blake, The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade (Columbus: J. & H. Miller, 1858), 386; George M. Stroud, A Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America (Philadelphia: Kimber and Sharpless, 1827), 137; Thomas F. Gordon, The History of Pennsylvania from its Discovery by Europeans to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 (Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1829), 554-555.

3 Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1839), 8:42, to Dean Woodward on April 10, 1773; Benson J. Lossing, Harpers’ Popular Cyclopaedia of United States History (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1892), 1299.

4 Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Albert Ellery Bergh (Washington DC: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1903), 1:34, from Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence. This section was removed on the objection of two states: Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, ed. Thomas Jefferson Randolph (London: Colburn and Bentley, 1829), 1:16, from his Autobiography.

5 A Constitution or Frame of Government Agreed Upon by the Delegates of the People of the State of Massachusetts-Bay (Boston: Benjamin Edes and Sons, 1780), 7; An Abridgement of the Laws of Pennsylvania, ed. Collinson Read, (Philadelphia: 1801), 264-266; The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), Book I, 623-625; Rhode Island Session Laws (Providence: Wheeler, 1784), 7-8; The Constitutions of the Sixteen States (Boston: Manning and Loring, 1797), 50, New Hampshire, 1792; The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming The United States of America, ed. Francis Newton Thorpe (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1909), 6:3762, Vermont, 1793; Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Twenty-Second Session, Second Meeting of the Legislature (Albany: Loring Andrew, 1798), 721-723; Laws of the State of New Jersey Compiled and Published Under the Authority of the Legislature, ed. Joseph Bloomfield (Trenton: James J. Wilson, 1811), 103-105.

6 The Statues at Large; Being A Collection of all the Laws of Virginia From the First Session of the Legislature in the Year 1619, ed. William Waller Henning (Richmond: J & G Cochran, 1821), IX:471-472, “An act for preventing the farther importation of Slaves,” October, 1778.

7 Paul Leland Haworth, George Washington: Farmer (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1915), 192; Mary V. Thompson, “The Only Unavoidable Subject of Regret,” Mount Vernon, 1999; The Works of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Paul Leicester Ford (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905), 11:417, to Edward Coles on August 25, 1814; Thomas Jefferson, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. H.A. Washington (New York: Riker, Thorne, & Co., 1855), 6:378, to Thomas Cooper on September 10, 1814; Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1794), 236-238, “Query XVIII.”

8 See, for example, Jeffrey Crow, “Liberty to Slaves: The Black Response,” Anchor, accessed August 23, 2023; James Madison, The Writings of James Madison, ed. Gaillard Hunt (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), 4:267-268, “Journal of the Constitutional Convention,” August 22, 1787; The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, ed. Joseph Gales (Washington DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834), 1:1242-1243, February 12, 1790.

9 Constitution of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage. Begun in the Year 1774, and Enlarged on the 23rd of April, 1787 (Philadelphia: Joseph James, 1787), 8.

10 “Race and Antebellum New York City: The New York Manumission Society,” New York Historical Society, accessed August 23, 2023; The Works of Samuel Hopkins (Boston: Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, 1854), 2:548, Advertisement page for “A Dialogue Concerning the Slavery of the Africans.”

Black History Bios

America’s Heroes: James Armistead Lafayette

James Armistead, who lived from 1748 to 1830, played an integral role in the American War for Independence and became an influential black patriot behind America’s most important victory in the War. For more than two centuries, Americans have celebrated him as a hero.

James was a slave owned by William Armistead on a farm near Richmond, Virginia. During the War for Independence, William became a military supply officer for the Continental Army and James accompanied him. In the latter stages of the War, both personally witnessed the vicious and brutal attack on their friends and neighbors in Richmond led by British General Benedict Arnold.

In the early part of the War, Arnold was an American general and a military hero from the Battle of Saratoga, the first major American victory in the Revolution. But Arnold’s wife and family supported the British, and Arnold was arrogant and wanted more recognition than he was receiving, so he became a traitor and defected to the British. They made him a general and he subsequently led a number of battles against the Americans.

In 1781, late in the War, Arnold led a surprise attack on Richmond. He had the British troops burn the city, ransack private homes, and loot personal valuables.

Finish reading James Armistead Lafayette’s biography with your purchase of “America’s Heroes: Black History Edition.”

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Black History Bios

America’s Heroes: “Stagecoach” Mary Fields

 

“Stagecoach” Mary Fields lived from 1832 to 1914 and embodied the American Old West qualities of hard work, toughness, and faith.

Born into slavery in Tennessee, she was enslaved by a pro-slavery Unionist Democrat, Judge Edmund Dunne. He traveled the country extensively throughout his life. He moved from New York to Tennessee, became a California legislator, served as a Chief Justice of the Arizona Territory, a member of the convention that wrote the original constitution of Nevada, and he helped found a Catholic colony in Florida. Judge Dunne’s activities literally carried him from coast to coast.

After slavery ended with the passage of the 13th Amendment, Mary was freed but chose to continue living with the Dunne family. When the judge’s wife died in 1883, Mary took the judge’s five children to his sister, Mother Amadeus, a nun who headed a convent in Toledo, Ohio. The following year, Mother Amadeus was sent to Cascade, Montana, to start a school for Native American girls alongside a school for the Blackfeet Tribe run by Jesuit priests. When Mother Amadeus became deathly ill, Mary hurried to Montana to nurse her back to health.

Finish reading Mary Field’s biography with your purchase of “America’s Heroes: Black History Edition.”

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Black History Bios

America’s Heroes: Bass Reeves

Bass Reeves, who lived from 1838 to 1910, is one of the most famous lawmen of the Old West. He served in a region, that at that time, was perhaps one of the most dangerous in the country, and the story of his life is filled with fascinating events and incredible moments.

Reeves was born into slavery, and like many former slaves in his day, the details of his early life are uncertain. The best accounts report that Bass was enslaved in Texas by a man named George Reeves. One day Bass and George got into a heated argument, which ultimately led to Bass knocking his master out cold. Knowing that he would likely be killed or at least brutally punished for what he had done, Bass fled across the Texas border to the wild and rugged Indian Territory, which would later become Oklahoma.

Few were inclined to pursue anyone into that Territory, not only because of the direct danger from Native Americans but also because of the countless outlaws and bandits who lived there. The Territory had little organized justice, so for years criminals from across the nation fled there to be safely beyond the reach of the law. Bass, fleeing from the injustice of slavery, did the same. He became friends with the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes. During his time there, he learned much about that wild and dangerous region, something which would be very valuable to him later.

Finish reading Bass Reeve’s biography with your purchase of “America’s Heroes: Black History Edition.”

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Black History Bios

America’s Heroes: Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls, who lived from 1839 to 1915, was a slave in Charleston, South Carolina. He piloted steamboats along the Atlantic seaboard and earned a reputation for his exceptional navigational skills. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was forced into naval service on a boat called the Planter, which was the flagship of Confederate General Roswell Ripley. Although Robert was the pilot of the ship, he did not hold that title since a slave in the Confederate South was not allowed to have such an important post.

One evening, the officers went ashore to attend a party. Robert and the rest of the slave crew decided this was a perfect time for their escape. The Union navy had surrounded and blockaded Charleston, so if they could get the ship safely out of the harbor and reach those Union ships, they would be free from slavery. Robert headed the ship toward the open sea. Knowing he would have to pass Confederate checkpoints along the waterway, Robert donned the Confederate captain’s clothing and hoisted the Confederate flag. Moving the ship along and blowing its usual signals, he avoided unwanted attention but still faced two major obstacles: Fort Johnson and Fort Sumter. They safely passed the first, but as they neared Sumter, the starting place of the Civil War, some of the crew, fearing the great danger they now approached, urged him to turn back.

Finish reading Robert Smalls’ biography with your purchase of  “America’s Heroes: Black History Edition.”

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Early Black Members of the US Congress

Born a slave in North Carolina in 1825, the “fair” education Benjamin Turner1 received was more than most slaves. Turner, who had helped manage his owner’s hotel and stable, had enough of his own money to purchase property in Selma, Alabama around the time the Civil War started. When the town was captured during the war, much of the city was burned leaving Turner with $8,000 in damages as the result. Turner’s elected positions included: tax collector (1869), councilman for Selma (1869), and US Congress (1871-1873). After his Congressional term, Turner2 returned to business pursuits and ran a farm until his death in 1894.

Josiah Walls3 was born into slavery in Virginia in 1842. He was a private servant to a Confederate soldier until he was emancipated by Union soldiers in 1862. Walls received some education before he decided to serve with the Union Army from 1863-1865. After his wartime service, he lived in Florida and used his earnings from working as a teacher to buy a farm. His elected positions included: state senator (1869-1872, 1876-1879) and US Congress (1871-January 1873; March 1873-1875 & 1875-1876). Walls4 returned to his farm after his political career ended and later ran the farm for Florida Normal College (now Florida A&M) until his death in 1905.

 Jefferson Long5, born a slave in Georgia in 1836, was self-educated and ran his own successful tailoring business. Long worked to promote literacy/education opportunities for blacks in Georgia after the Civil War and was known as a great orator. He became the second black American elected to the House of Representatives, and though he only served for 3 months (January-March 1871) Long was the first black representative to speak on the House floor. Long6 went back to his tailoring shop after his time in Congress and opened other businesses before his death in 1901.

It’s important for all of us to learn more about other black history heroes7 to keep alive the memory of these American heroes!

1 “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” United States House of Representatives.
2 “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
3 “Walls, Josiah Thomas,” United States House of Representatives.
4 “Walls, Josiah Thomas,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
5 “Long, Jefferson Franklin,” United States House of Representatives.
6 “Long, Jefferson Franklin,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
7 “Black History Resources,” WallBuilders.

Presidents Day: A Brief History

In the 1800s, February 22 was annually celebrated as George Washington’s Birthday in many localities throughout the new American nation. An official federal holiday recognizing this day, however, was not declared until 1879.

Black hero Lemuel Haynes has an interesting tie to Washington’s Birthday celebrations. Haynes was a Minuteman in the War for Independence and participated in the expedition against Fort Ticonderoga. After he became a minister in 1785, he preached for both all-white and mixed congregations. About 40 years after his participation in the War, Haynes preached a sermon on Washington’s Birthday, noting:

Perhaps it is not ostentatious [bragging] in the speaker to observe that in early life he devoted all for the sake of freedom and independence, and endured frequent campaigns in their defense, and has never viewed the sacrifice too great.

In 1968, a Congressional Act was passed that moved the celebration of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February. This holiday is now called Presidents Day and celebrates all of America’s presidents.

Did America Create Slavery?

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine announced on the floor of the Senate that:

“The United States didn’t inherit slavery from anybody. We created it.”1

For even the most basic student of world history such a statement ought to immediately be recognized as incomprehensively ridiculous. Historically, every single people, nation, culture, and race has at various times been both the slave and the master. Indeed, “all have sinned and fallen short” (Romans 3:23). Sen. Kaine, just like the famously inaccurate 1619 Project, must ignore documented history and create his own fantasy world to arrive at such a conclusion.

For example, in ancient Greece—which existed thousands of years before America—nearly 30% of their population were slaves. The Roman Empire reached a staggering 40%.2 In fact, one of the most significant and widely known aspects of the Bible centers around the Israelites being delivered out of slavery in Egypt through the famous Exodus. We could walk through every nation in human history and find a tragic past riddled with slavery.

Arab Slavers

Prior to the creation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade by the Spanish from Africa to South America in the early 1500s, Africa already participated in a robust trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean slave trade. Black tribes would raid, capture, and enslave other black tribes for profit, selling them across the continent and beyond. Many of these slaves were sold into the Islamic Middle East, and “medieval Arabs came to associate the most degrading forms of labor with black slaves.”3 Most likely it was this racial bias which was translated to the Iberian Peninsula (i.e., Spain and Portugal) when the Muslims conquered parts of that area in the 8th century. When the Spanish became the first European nation to significantly colonize the New World, they seemingly brought this bias with them which was thereby disseminated through the Americas, North, Central, and South. In this sense, America very literally inherited racial slavery—from the Arab Middle East through Spain.

Christian Slaves

What is perhaps even more astounding is that a larger number of white Europeans were captured and sold into African slavery than the number of Africans sold into the land that would become the United States. Just over 300,000 black slaves landed in the North American colonies which became America4 but 1,250,000 white Europeans were captured and shipped to slave markets in Northern Africa.5 This Barbary Coast Trade lasted longer than American slavery and was only stopped through the naval efforts of the British and Americans. Furthermore, it was not until the late 17th century that black slaves in the New World outnumbered white slaves in the Old.6

Additionally, for hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus ever conceived of the idea to sail westward, the Native Americans practiced mass slavery amid other practices including human sacrifice and cannibalism. This pre-Columbian native slave trade was so prolific that “wherever European conquistadors set foot in American tropics, they found evidence of indigenous warfare, war captives, and captive slaves.”7 Indeed, indigenous cultures saw slavery rates so prevalent that up to 20-40% of all Indians were enslaved by other Indians.8

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Even today, nearly 160 years after America became one of the first nations to abolish slavery, there are still 94 nations that do not have laws criminalizing slavery.9 This has led to the enslavement of over 40 million people in the world right now. In a stroke of tragic irony, Africa has the highest rate of slavery today, closely followed by Asia,10 while North America has the lowest.11 Currently, Africa holds some 9,240,000 people in chains and slavery today,12 which is nearly identical to the total number of slaves disembarked in the entire New World (North, Central, and South America) throughout the almost four centuries of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.13

So, clearly Sen. Tim Kaine must either be completely ignorant about the history of slavery or maliciously intentional in his presentation of “facts.” America in no way created slavery—in fact, if we were to say anyone “created” slavery in America we must conclude that the indigenous people did so. By contrast, the United States, despite its well-known shortcomings, ought to receive credit for having done more than nearly any other nation in the history of the world to fight slavery both in the past and today.

(Our book, The American Story: The Beginnings, has extensive information on the history of slavery not only in the United States but also the world.)

Endnotes

1 Tobias Hoonhout, “Dem Sen. Kaine Claims United States ‘Created’ Slavery and ‘Didn’t Inherit Slavery from Anybody,’” National Review, June 16, 2020.
2 Fernando Santos-Granero, Vital Enemies: Slavery, Predation, and the Amerindian Political Economy of Life (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2009), 226-227.
3 Philip Morgan, “Origins of American Slavery,” Organization of American History Magazine of History (July 2005), 19:4:53.
4 “Summary Statistics,” Slave Voyages, accessed June 16, 2020. Summary Statistics with the Principle Place of Slave Landing being restricted to Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, the Gulf Coast, and “Other North America.”
5 Past & Present (Aug., 2001), No. 172, 118, Robert C. Davis, “Counting European Slaves on the Barbary Coast”; Robert C. Davis, Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800 (NY: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004), 23-24.
6 Morgan, “Origins of American Slavery,” American History Magazine (July 2005), 19:4:53.
7 Santos-Granero, Vital Enemiese (2009), 1.
8 Santos-Granero, Vital Enemies (2009), 226-227.
9 Sonia Elks, “Slavery is Not a Crime for Almost Half the Countries in the World,” Reuters (February 12, 2020), accessed June 16, 2020.
10 “Prevalence Across the Regions,” Global Slavery Index (2018), accessed June 16, 2020, here.
11 “Regional Highlights: Americas,” Global Slavery Index (2018), accessed June 17, 2020, here.
12 “Region Highlights: Africa,” Global Slavery Index (2018), accessed June 16, 2020, here.
13 “Summary Statistics,” Slave Voyages, accessed June 16, 2020.

* This article concerns a historical issue and may not have updated information.

If You Care About Black Lives—End Abortion

In the midst of all the passion, division, and activism, there should be at least one central premise that every American can agree on—that life matters. But increasingly the truth is becoming clear that only certain lives matter. Specifically speaking, leftist activist group “Black Lives Matter” says one thing but then works to destroy the lives of thousands of black people.

For example, on the BLM “What we Believe” page they claim to be:

Guided by the fact that all Black lives matter, regardless of actual or perceived sexual identity, gender identity, gender expression, economic status, ability, disability, religious beliefs or disbeliefs, immigration status, or location (emphasis added).[i]

In every location, that is, except the womb.

Since nearly the beginning of the organization, BLM has associated themselves with anti-life groups, while in the same breath ironically declaring that, “our lives are at stake.”[ii] One co-founders of BLM explained that, “we certainly understand that BLM and reproductive justice go hand in hand.”[iii]

Calling abortion “reproductive justice” cannot hide the fact that for every successful abortion there is a victim whose life apparently didn’t matter enough. Such double-speak only attempts to deflect the attention away from the ideological hypocrisy rampant in the organization.

Overall in America, there were 862,000 babies killed by abortion in 2017, which means an average of 2,362 a day.[iv] Statistically, in 2016 (the most recent year for which data exists), 38% of abortions were by black women.[v] Thus, an estimated 898 black babies die every single day, and as many as 327,560 per year.

To expand our inquiry even further, there have been over 60,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in 1973.[vi] Just how many millions of black children didn’t matter? Certainly more than the total number of slaves ever brought from Africa. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that in New York a higher percentage of black babies are aborted than born.[vii] This is an odd kind of justice.

Paradoxically, the main group claiming to champion black lives supports those institutions that kill more black people daily than the police have killed—whether justified or not—in the last three years combined.[viii] Comparatively, a black person is 1,187 times more likely to never be born than they are to be killed by a police officer.[ix] Historically speaking, it takes abortion clinics less than four days to kill more black people than all of the Jim Crow lynchings combined.[x]

So, do black lives really matter? I believe they do, and that is why we must abolish abortion.

Endnotes

[i] “What We Believe,” Black Lives Matter (accessed June 19, 2020).

[ii] “Black Lives Matter Partners With Reproductive Justice Groups to Fight for Black Women,” Color Lines (February 9, 2016), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[iii] “Black Lives Matter Partners With Reproductive Justice Groups to Fight for Black Women,” Color Lines (February 9, 2016), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[iv] “The U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Drop: Once Again, State Abortion Restrictions Are Not the Main Driver,” Guttmacher Institute (September 18, 2019), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[v] “Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (November 29, 2019), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[vi] “The State of Abortion in the United States,” National Right to Life Committee (January 18, 2018), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[vii] “Abortion Reporting: New York City (2016),” Charlotte Lozier Institute (December 19, 2018), accessed June 19, 2020, here.

[viii] “National Trends,” Mapping Police Violence (accessed June 19, 2020), here. More specifically there were 783 black Americans killed by police in both justified and unjustified situations in the years, 2017 (276), 2018 (248), and 2019 (259).

[ix] Comparing the numbers from 2017

[x] “History of Lynching,” NAACP (accessed June 19, 2020), here.