Opus 2026-311: John Adams Quotes Me

I have a number of long term reading projects that will take me until the end of my life or beyond.  They are either multi-volume works or big, thick books with tiny print.  I am adding another, The Works of John Adams.  It was a Fathers’ Day gift and it looks interesting but it will be a long haul.

The early parts of the book are from Adams’ diary.  One of my early observations was that it almost seems like I am often channeling John Adams.  Often I could have written this from 1755.

“I can as easily still the fierce tempest or stop the rapid thunderbolt, as command the motions and operations of my own mind.  I am dull and inactive, and all my resolutions, all the spirits I can muster are insufficient to rouse me from this senseless torpitude.  My brains seem constantly in as great confusion and wild disorder as Milton’s chaos; they are numb, dead.  I have never any bright, refulgent ideas . Everything appears in my mind and obscure, like the objects seen through a dirty glass or roiled water.”  p. 13

It is good to know that other people go through mental turmoil.  I will never be a founding father but there are common elements of humanity that I find encouraging.

Adams, John.  The Works of John Adams, Volume 1.  Norwalk, Connecticut:  The Easton Press, 1992.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-090: Election 2026: Amendments

It is a real tragedy that we have no process for amending the Declaration of Independence.  We have a method for the Constitution but nothing for this other founding document.  I wish we could go back to Jefferson’s original.

What am I talking about?  I’m talking about how he substituted the “pursuit of happiness” for “property.”  Jefferson was on the right track.  Originally his phrase, as I understand it, was, “life, liberty and property.”  That takes into consideration that one of the great reasons people came to this country was because where they came from everything belong to the king.

This is the norm in history.  If you go back to ancient Egypt, Pharaoh owned all the land, except with the priests claimed.  I was reading on Sarah Hoyts blog recently about how her parents had a deed to the property.  It wasn’t a deed.  It was simply permission from the king to live on it and treat it as their own while he did not actually give up sovereignty over it.  This was normal.  Even if you were a great and powerful Lord, you exercised power over your lands by permission of the king.  If you fell out of favor, he could revoke his grant.  Common people had no hope of actually owning land.  This is just one of the many jewels in America’s crown and the Progressive* elites are trying to destroy it.

I understand in Europe things are getting so expensive that owning a home is a multi-generational project.  We are approaching that here.  The real problem though is not that property is expensive but such things as eminent domain or tax liens.  The government can tax us out of our property or can declare it has a higher use for your property and take it away.  We need to reestablish the importance of private property.

I checked my Communist Manifesto, and I remind you one of the big goals of Marxism, and our Progressive* elites, is to remove the security that property gives individuals and make us dependent upon the state even for place to live.

If we can’t amend the Declaration of Independence, then, perhaps we need an amendment added to the Constitution which guarantees us the right of property.  That might be a good plan for the next election.  Republican Platform Committee, are you listening?

*(Liberals, educators, cultural Marxists, the media, socialists, communists, crony capitalists, fascists (I repeat myself), elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, BLM, MSM, Deep State, etc.  Synonym for swamp dwellers)

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-146: Consider the Mold

There are many documents that molded American history from the Mayflower Compact to the latest nonsense coming out of Washington.  You might consider it from the sublime to the ridiculous.  Out of them all there are three that stand out in our founding as a nation.

The Declaration of Independence was the first.  It was the result of present and ongoing abuses that the colonies were facing.  If you take the time to read through it you will find a lot of issues that sound contemporary.

Then you come to the Constitution itself.  This was like a term paper in government.  It is the result of deep study and debate.  Rome, Greece, the Bible and anything else they could find that talked about government.  What worked?  What failed?  Why?  They rejected pure democracy out the starting gate.  They learned a lot from the Greek attempts and crashes.  Rome had its lessons.  The English Parliament showed them things they like and aspects they rejected.  The result was an inspired work that, if followed, provided liberty and prosperity for the masses of common people.

The Bill of Rights followed because it was demanded.  One of the big blanks in the Constitution was a lack of reference to God.  Many delegates voted for the Constitution only because they were promised a Bill of Rights.  The first thing that was addressed was religious freedom.  As you read through the first two amendments you need to keep in mind that it is the result of experience in English attempts to push the state church.  Freedom to worship as you please requires freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom to print.  Even the second amendment reflects the way in which the throne restricted weapons to members of the church in power.

Appreciate what we have, or at least used to have.  Read them over.  Think about them.  Stand up and advocate for them.  The future is still not set in concrete.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-051: An Oppressor in Every Pot

The act of oppression is almost universal.  It isn’t even usually a desire to oppress.  It is a desire to win, to be in control, to show what great ideas you have.  It is an expression of your ego.  Oppression is just part of the chips from all the hammering.

I think of my grandchildren.  The older is always trying to tell the younger what to do.  If she is clever then everyone is happy and she is in charge.  If she gets too cocky or he is having a bad day then she will up the ante until an adult gets involved.  

We never grow out of that tendency.  

What brought this to mind was a conversation between Os Guinness and Eric Metaxas on a program called Socrates in the City.  They were talking about the difference between the French Revolution and the American Revolution and relating the French format to the Marxists trying to take over our country.  The Proregressives* have been at it for generations.  One of the forces keeping them at bay has been the nature of the American church.  The First Amendment makes a state church illegal and so religion has thrived with hundreds of independent churches.  None of them were able to get the government to empower them.  The founders recognized that a religious foundation was important and it could only thrive in freedom.

In Europe it was different.  Consider the corruption of the European state churches and how they colluded with the kings in oppressing the people.  Guinness said the reformation set us on the path to individual religious freedom.  Not really.  Luther wanted control as much as the pope did.  The Lutheran church became a state church.  The cycle continued.  Non-state churches were persecuted to the point of death.  Only in the American colonies and later in the Constitution did the idea of religious freedom emerge.  It has paid big dividends.

New Churches start up because the rebels want liberty.  So far so good.  Church splits can cause an increase in spiritual liberty.  After each split the cycle starts again.  One of the first things new churches do is force people to conform to their vision.  Maybe that is necessary and a good thing.  It seems to be inevitable.

We are entering a new era, or else we are firmly entrenched.  For a long time the oppressed could leave home and come to America.  Then they could leave home and move west.  At the present we leave home and move to Texas.  The problem is that the oppressors also don’t like the world they create and move to Texas with us.  And of course they know what is best for us and start working to establish what they ran away from.

There is no place left to run.  We need to take a stand and insist on liberty.  It needs to start on the local leve with city councils or maybe even more local with your HMO.  Get elected to the local board.  Go to meetings.  Start nipping the oppressors in the bud.  It will make them happy because they can feel sorry for themselves and make you happy because they are thwarted.

Get out and run.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-069: Bounced Checks and Loaded Balances, part 3 of 3

The glue that has held all of this together was a common set of moral values.  It really wasn’t the Constitution that gave us our liberty.  I am sorry to be the one to disillusion you.  My understanding is that the Soviet Union had a constitution too and it guaranteed freedom of religion.  How did that work for them?  The glue was the shared understanding that there were limits and that you didn’t cross certain lines.  We agreed that some things are always right and others always wrong.  That unchanging moral base was what was necessary to keep the piece of paper in place.  What good is a contract if one side refuses to honor it?  What good is the law if you have people in positions of responsibility who make it a one way gate?

The Founders were aware of this need.  Here are a few quotes,

“But it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can surely stand.” John Adams in letter

“Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government.”  George Washington, Farewell Address

We are living to see the end of that consensus.  The new Democratic regime, and I say regime not administration, is at war with the Constitution.  There is nothing new about that.  Powerful people have always pushed against restraints.  What has changed is they are also at war with the Judeo-Christian foundations of our country.  In reality that is not new either.  What is new is that they have become so blatant about it.  They have gone to warp speed.

Do Americans care enough to stop it?  I don’t know.  I have watched the pastors of the nation’s churches compromise and abandon their calling in order to be accepted.  We criticize politicians who go liberal when they get to Washington because they want to be invited to the best parties.  That same seems to be true of the clergy.  I have heard people claiming to be Christian while they reject the teachings of the Bible.  Will there be enough salt to savor the stew?  I hope so.  I pray so.  

Time will tell.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-067: Bounced Checks and Loaded Balances, part 1 of 3

The genius of the American system was a multi-layered system of checks and balances.  We are seeing that break down.  

The level that most people learn about in school is the three branches of government, Executive, Legislative, Judicial.  Each branch has ways to counter the actions of the other two.  The idea was that if you got a corrupt President then Congress could pass laws to keep him in check, override his veto and even impeach him.  The president had the veto, the pardon, nominating power and the daily administration of the laws.  The courts could decide what the law meant.  Each branch could rein in the others.  It slowed things down.  Slow working government was created on purpose.

In addition to that you had the three elected sources of power.  The House was elected by popular vote.  The Senate was elected by the states.  The president was elected by a combination of the two.  Each nexus looked to a different segment of the country for its base.  That was seriously handicapped by the seventeenth amendment which moved the choice of senators from the political leaders of the states to a popular vote.  

The level we don’t think about is the federal part of the equation.  Keep in mind that we are not a democracy and in a sense we are not a republic.  We are a Federal Republic.  Notice again the tenth amendment.  

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The original colonies looked at themselves as sovereign nations.  They were reluctant to give up that power.  That is one reason why the Articles of Confederation did not work.  When they signed on to the Constitution power was surrendered, but they still felt they had a say in things.  Much of that attitude was beaten down by the Civil War.  Abraham Lincoln and the North said, “We are in charge.  You will obey.”

We live with that legacy.  As I watch the abuse of power going on my attitude has changed.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-026: Cornerstone Considerations: D of I, History Is Happening

A document that often gets ignored in our discussions of the foundations of the country is the Declaration of Independence.  It is not the Constitution.  The Constitution is our core legal document.  At the same time it is part of the thinking and philosophy that makes us what we are.  It shows us what was going on in the minds of the Founders.  It needs to be considered.

When I was teaching American history I tried to get the middle school students to paraphrase parts of the Declaration of Independence.  I told them to pretend they were trying to put it in words that their five year old brother would understand.  These eighth graders could not do it.  I tried for years and rarely could get across the idea of restating in simpler words.

Take for instance the first phrase,

When in the Course of human Events,...

A typical “paraphrase” of a modern eight grader would be, “When human Events Course”.  After I quit screaming and they removed my straight jacket I would go back and try again.

What does it mean?  How do you put it simply?  How about, “As life goes on” or “All during history”.  Is that too hard?  Evidently.

The Founders were immersed in history.  They read and studied.  They argued and discussed.  Were all of their facts correct?  I doubt it.  Did all of their arguments make sense?  Don’t make me laugh.  Were they always consistent?  No, they were always human.  That having been said, they called each other to account and tried to see what had worked and what had not worked.

We are involved in human events.  Life is going on.  We need to pay attention and put in our two cents worth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-172: Declaration Diversity

As I came to the end of the Declaration of Independence I looked down at the list of names and noted that each person put down the role in life that they filled.  I laughed at Samuel Adams labeling himself as a “political leader”.  It would seem that he did not have a day job.

The rest of the list was interesting, not in the number of lawyers, but in the other professions listed.  If you take out the lawyers and judges, which I did, you get an interesting list.

Bartlett, Josiah                NH      Physician, Judge
Braxton, Carter                 VA      Farmer
Clark, Abraham                  NJ      Surveyor
Clymer, George                  PA      Merchant
Floyd, William                  NY      Soldier
Franklin, Benjamin              PA      Printer, Publisher
Gerry, Elbridge                 MA      Merchant
Gwinnett, Button                GA      Merchant
Hall, Lyman                     GA      Physician
Hancock, John                   MA      Merchant
Harrison, Benjamin              VA      Farmer
Hart, John                      NJ      Farmer
Hewes, Joseph                   NC      Merchant
Heyward, Thomas Jr.             SC      Lawyer, Farmer
Hopkins, Stephen                RI      Judge, Educator
Hopkinson, Francis              NJ      Judge, Author
Lee, Francis Lightfoot          VA      Farmer
Lee, Richard Henry              VA      Farmer
Lewis, Francis                  NY      Merchant
Livingston, Philip              NY      Merchant
Lynch, Thomas Jr.               SC      Farmer
Middleton, Arthur               SC      Farmer
Morris, Lewis                   NY      Farmer
Morris, Robert                  PA      Merchant
Nelson, Thomas Jr.              VA      Farmer
Rush, Benjamin                  PA      Physician
Taylor, George                  PA      Ironmaster
Thornton, Matthew               NH      Physician
Whipple, William                NH      Merchant, Judge
Williams, William               CT      Merchant
Witherspoon, John               NJ      Educator

The Founding Fathers had their share of lawyers but it is impressive how many saw themselves as farmers.  Maybe we need to pass a law setting a limit on how many lawyers we can have in congress today.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-122: Election 2020: Voting Requirements

We have another election coming up.  The Democrats have a sizable contingent of contestants and on the Republican side President Trump has announced he is running.  Based on how close the last several elections have been and the accusations of voter fraud and suppression, the question of who votes and what the qualifications are is a real issue. 

The Constitution and Amendments give the basic outline of whom should be allowed to vote.  Citizenship is required and you need to be at least 18 years of age.  It used to be necessary to be registered and a resident where you voted.  The Democrats are moving to do away with all of these remaining restrictions. 

One of the lies perpetuated by the America hating left is that the Founders wrote the constitution to serve only the rich and property owners.  While owning property was considered during the debates it was rejected.  Property ownership or minimum worth were requirements in England but the new American experiment did away with them.  There is nothing in the Constitution about owning property to be a voter.  Period.  It is not there.

Some states did have property or income requirements but  they were greatly reduced as the thinking of the Revolution made its way into society at large.  I find myself in sympathy toward limiting the right to vote.  I find that most people have no idea what they are voting on or how their elected officials vote.  I don’t know how many conversations I have had with black Americans on the different issues in campaigns.  Usually they would agree with Ronald Reagan on individual issues but still vote a straight Democrat ticket.  Would I limit the right to vote based on race?  No, but if it were possible to weed out those who are not paying attention without abusing the process, I would go for it.

Why?  The Founding Fathers knew the dangers of having a limited buy-in to society.  This is a quote from John Adams from Vindicating the Founders,

“Such is the frailty of the human heart, that very few men who have no property, have any judgment of their own.  They talk and vote as they are directed by some man of property, who has attached their minds to his interest....[M]en who are wholly destitute of property... [are] to all intents and purposed as much dependent upon others, who will please to feed, clothe, and employ them, as women are upon their husbands, or children upon their parents.”

This explains why all major cities are Democrat strongholds.  The majority of people in them are living off of government handouts or work for the government.  They know which side their butter is on and who gets milked to supply it.

And again, we make the mistake of using “democracy” instead of “republic”.  We are not, nor have we ever been a democracy.  The Founders did not trust the masses enough to have a democracy.  We have a constitution that protects the minority groups instead of allowing the mindless to be manipulated.  Enjoy what is left of your liberty while you still can.

West, Thomas G.  Vindicating the Founders.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
     Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1997, page 122.

homo unius libri

Opus 2019-115: A Good Question

Why do we celebrate the 4th of July?  I know that seems a stupid question but have you been listening to the people elected to congress in the last session?  July 4, 1776 is the date inscribed on the Declaration of Independence.  Because of that we call this Independence Day and even though the Progressive elites are doing all they can to limit our liberty, we still have a lot to celebrate.  I urge you to stop and read the Declaration.

It starts,

    When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

and goes on from there.  I will post the document in a separate post.  I urge you to read the entire thing today.  You might even try a little exercise I had my middle school students do:  Paraphrase the paragraph without using any of the key words.  For instance, “When in the Course of human Events” could become, “all through history”.

We still have much to celebrate and be thankful for.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-163: July 4, The Experiment Began

Today is Independence Day.  A good question we need to ask is, “What were we independent from?”  The most common answer would probably be some sort of ignorance from people who never listened or never covered the founding of the country.  The most common answer we would get from people who didn’t guess “From school” would be we gained our independence from England and became a new nation.  That would be right as far as it goes but still short of the real level of separation that was being sought.

Political independence was a necessary ingredient for what the Founding Fathers wanted to achieve but it was only the beginning.  What they wanted to be free from what the established paradigm of Europe.  They probably would not have used the word paradigm but you get the idea.  Europe was a product of the Enlightenment.  While there were some good things that came out of the Enlightenment it was also the source of the thinking that made the French Revolution totally different than the American Revolution.  It was based on a class society that felt like there was a natural elite who deserved to rule.  The American experiment was based on two concept that were, and are, rejected by Europe.  They are also rejected by American elites today.

The first is the Declaration of Independence phrase “all men are created equal”.  It was not a statement that all men are equal but that they were created equal.  This is the principle of the rule of law and the idea illustrated by the statue of Justice with a balance scale and a blindfold.  The rest of the world seems satisfied with different laws and different justice for those in the higher classes.  The Founding Fathers wanted the law applied the same to everyone.  It took a lot of sanding and chiseling but with the Civil Rights act of 1964 we were getting pretty close to that ideal.  Of course you then had special interest elites start in with things like affirmative action and quotas. 

But the dream is still there for most Americans.

The second concept is referenced in the first.  In order to be created there needs to be a Creator.  It was assumed in the Declaration of Independence that certain rights were ours because God had given them to us.  Because God gave them, the government could not take them away.  That thinking was rejected by Europe and, again, most of the world.  A good example is Great Britain where you are not even allowed to defend yourself from violent attacks without fear of being arrested because you defended yourself too well.

The Progressives represented by the Democrats, socialists and people on the left want to turn back the clock, do away with the experiment and become European again.  They feel that specially qualified experts are the ones who should be making major decisions and limiting our options on minor choices.  They want it for our own good.  It starts with seat belts and motorcycle helmets and proceeds to health care and sugar in our drinks.  It ends up with one party elections with only carefully screened candidates on the ballot.

Celebrate our Independence and wake up before it is gone.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-161: Cornerstone Considerations: D of I, The Wrong Day

Last Sunday the preacher was referring to the Declaration of Independence and talked about it being signed on July 4.  I have read that it was actually signed at a later date.  July 4 was the date the vote was taken to approve the document.  A post that has this and other interesting details is located on the History Channel website.

Does it matter? 

Not really.  Notice that the document does not say, “This was signed on July 4".  There are two things that are important.  First, it was approved and signed.  Second, the content gives a cornerstone for the direction of a new experiment in politics, The United States of America.

Are documents like this important?  Obviously I will say, “Yes.”  The old documents tell us what the thinking was in previous generations.  They tell us why a group of men found it necessary to finish with this statement,

“And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Make no doubt about it.  These men were taking their lives into their hands or, as they would agree, putting their lives in the hands of Providence, because they believed that God had a plan for humanity and it was time to take that plan to the next step.

As I write we are looking at the appointment of a new justice to the Supreme Court.  As conservatives we want someone appointed who looks at the old documents and believes in what they say.  We don’t want someone thinking they know more than the combined wisdom of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, et al.

We have the same problem in Christian churches.  We have a growing number of pastors who believe that their personal preferences should trump the clear statements of the Bible.  They think they are wiser than Calvin, Luther, Wesley and even Jesus.  They are a danger to the church as those kind of judges are a danger to America.

Take some time to read the original documents.  Over the next few days focus on the Declaration of Independence.  After that you might want to go back and look at some of the original documents that the Founding Fathers used as resources.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-397: Channeling Jefferson

One of the great divides in history that is usually overlooked is the difference in philosophy between the George Washington branch of the Founding Fathers and the Thomas Jefferson branch.  Every year when I go through the Constitution I point out to the students that Thomas Jefferson was not at the Constitutional Convention.  If he had been there we would not have the freedoms we now have.  In my opinion we might have degenerated into the glories of the French Revolution which Jefferson praised for so long. 

That is a discussion for another day.

What I came across while reading a biography of John Marshall was a section that talked about the attitude of the Continental soldier towards Jefferson.  While the soldiers were starving, going naked and did not have enough arms to fight, the soldiers were wondering where the author of the Declaration of Independence was.  Even Washington wrote to a friend, “in the present situation of things, I cannot help asking - where is Mason - Wythe - Jefferson?”, p. 126

The author explains.

“...Jefferson was in the State Legislature.  But he was not there merely enjoying office and exclusively engaged in party politics as Washington more than intimates.  He was starting such vital reforms as the abolition of entails, the revision of the criminal code, the establishment of a free school system, the laying of the legal foundations of religions freedom.
    “In short Jefferson was sowing the seeds of liberalism in Virginia.” p. 128

He goes on.  He is willing to forgive Jefferson of almost anything because he was a great writer and politician.  He shares that Jefferson admitted he was not suited for the soldiers life and combat.  If we could use that logic for us common folks, then how big would our army have been during World War II.  Would anyone have gone to Korea or Vietnam?  I hated army life.  I am not a warrior.  I can write a clever sentence and know where to put periods.

We are looking at the beginnings of the class differences that some people, such as Jefferson, believed in even as they talked about inalienable rights.  We still have those people with us.  They want to tell us how we should live, while they live in isolated splendor.  Picture Al Gore and the money he has made manipulating our carbon footprints.  Picture Mitch McConnell saying, “We will get them next time.”

It is time to expect everyone to follow the same laws and risk the same consequences.  Will Hillary go to jail?  Stupid question.  Would you or I go to jail?  Obvious answer. 

The Jeffersons of life are still with us.

Beveridge, Albert J.  The Life of John Marshall, Vol. 1.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-16: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 6 of 6

Slavery was a part of our history.  That is a fact.  In isolation, used as a club, it becomes a source of guilt and a rational for all kinds of sick thinking.  We do not blame Italians for the millions who died from the Black Death in the Middle Ages.  It might have been Italian merchants who introduced the plague.  So what?  You can’t expect Italy to pay reparations for something that their ancestors may have done.  It is a little silly to try to hold people alive today responsible for what was common behavior up until the 19th century. 

Black American and their manipulating, liberal, white masters need to get over slavery and move on.  Instead of looking at all of the opportunities this country has we continue to look for blame and victims.  This attitude has been infused into the very soul of American blacks.  It is keeping them from standing up, stepping forward and becoming a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem.  Their refusal to grow up and leave the plantation is pulling this country apart.

Slavery was common.  I would venture a guess that all of us have both slaves and owners somewhere in our family tree.  It is time to get out of the tree and start walking like children of God instead of clients of the welfare state.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-15: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 5 of 6

Someone once said something to the effect, “If God does not punish America for its moral decadence then He will need to apologize to Sodom and Ghemmora.”

George Mason felt like this would apply to America in his day over the issue of slavery.

“They [the slave owners] bring the judgment of heaven on a Country. As nations can not [sic] be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes & effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities….”

The scale was tipped on slavery by the American Civil War.  It could easily be considered the hand of God punishing the nation.  The Christians in the North certainly thought that way.  Consider the first verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible, swift sword.
His truth is marching on.

The Civil War was a brutal affair.  Americans suffered more casualties in that war than they have in all other wars combined.  They did that with a population much smaller than we have today.  Families lost an entire generation of sons.  The anger is still alive today.

I think it is time to take the next step and move on. 

To be continued....

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-13: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 4 of 6

Slavery has a destructive effect on the owners of slaves.  Mason continues,

“They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant.”

There is something about having absolute control over another human being that brings out the worst in some people.  Slaves were treated in ways that free labor would never tolerate.

One reason that slavery died out in Christian Europe and was the teaching of the Bible.  Nowhere is slavery condemned in Christianity or any other major world religion but the conditions put on it were such that you could not maintain the relationship.  We see this in the letter of Paul to Philemon.  Paul had come across an escaped slave name Onesimus who had become a Christian.  He and Paul worked together in Rome but then Paul realized that he needed to return to his master, who was also a Christian.  When Paul sends him back he includes the letter we have.  In it he says to Philemon,

(Phm 1:15-18 NAS77)  For perhaps he was for this reason parted from you for a while, that you should have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.  If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me.  But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account;

He was sent back as a slave but was to be treated as a brother.  This kind of attitude makes it pretty hard to maintain slaves.

Slavery allows the sinful nature of all human beings free reign.  It gives us the idea we are superior and have the right to inflict pain on others.  It gives us the idea that others exist for our pleasure and exploitation. 

This is an attitude that Americans have rejected just as we led the way in rejecting slavery.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-12: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 3 of 6

One legacy of slavery is the attitude toward hard work.  Mason observed,

“Slavery discourages arts & manufactures. The poor despise labor when performed by slaves.”

This is true in a number of ways.  In the antebellum South most skilled labor was done by slaves.  Blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, you name it, slaves were trained to do the work.  The stereotype of the ignorant field hand was not universal.  If they had a “good” master they were allowed to keep a small part of the proceeds.  This is how many slaves bought their freedom.  That was good for them but it made it impossible for free skilled labor to move to the area and compete.  Thus the economy of the South was locked into the large plantation life style. 

Even more damaging was the attitude that slavery encouraged in the workers.  It became the mark of a slave to sweat for your living.  Perspiration meant you were of an inferior class.  This has been observed in other cultures.  It is not unique to America.  We see similar attitudes in the gentry of England.  This social class was not allowed to do any kind of work that was considered demeaning.  Thus the gentry could be a lawyer but not a shop keeper.  They could be a soldier but not a manufacturer.  They could be a total loser but still shown respect.

I have run into this in modern black Americans.  At our school one of the disciplines instituted for bad behavior was picking up trash.  Some boys refused and got in even more trouble.  I was shocked when an otherwise rational teacher told me that she would support her sons if they refused to pick up trash.  I ask the reasoning.  She said, “Because it is slave labor.”  In her mind free people did not do menial work.

Slavery destroys productivity and the work ethic.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-10: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 2 of 6

The battle against slavery had its early beginnings in England and was a war being waged during our Revolution.  We find that the battle in England had long coat-tails.  Notice the first part of the quote given in my last post.

“This infernal trafic [sic] originated in the avarice of British Merchants. The British Govt. constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it.

A name you may not be familiar with is William Wilberforce.  He was a member of the British Parliament and spent 30 years fighting to stamp slavery out of the British Empire.  That battle was just beginning in 1787 when Mason was writing these words.  So England had deliberately stopped Virginia, a colony that accepted slavery, from taking steps to stop the trade.  Even up to the eve of the American Civil War there were movements to do away with slavery.

Remember that at this time slavery was legal and accepted around the world.  Being against it made you the odd duck.  The United States had a lot of odd ducks.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-9: Founders: The Legacy of Slavery, part 1 of 6

Slavery has always been with us.

Slavery is making a comeback.

Slavery has never been just an American issue.

The Founding Fathers struggled with the concept of slavery.  Even people who owned slaves realized that the institution was a problem and deeply immoral.  We often are taught that it was totally ignored, but that is not true.  The Constitutional Convention almost came apart because of the passion against it.  By the time the Constitution was ratified the northern part of the country had already either made it illegal or began the process of eliminating it.

One of the insightful Founders was George Mason.  He represented the paradox.  He hated slavery with a passion, yet he owned slaves.  It is easy to judge and hard to get into the minds of people living in a world where slavery was accepted and normal.

I find one quote of Mason rather prophetic.  This is from a Website at Gunston Hall.

“This infernal trafic [sic] originated in the avarice of British Merchants. The British Govt. constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerns not the importing States alone but the whole Union…. Slavery discourages arts & manufactures. The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They prevent the immigration of Whites, who really enrich & strengthen a Country. They produce the most pernicious effect on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of heaven on a Country. As nations can not [sic] be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes & effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities….[It is] essential in every point of view that the Genl. Govt. should have power to prevent the increase of slavery.”

To be continued...

homo unius libri