Washington, Jefferson and other slave owners

Mike Duncan's podcast Revolutions is a series of episodes telling the histories of several revolutions in the modern era, starting with the English Civil War. Since the American Revolution, though, you begin to see several personages make appearances in other revolutions. For example, the Marquis de Lafayette shows up in the American Revolution, the French Revolution (until napoleon's time), The Haitian Revolution, and the 1830 July Monarchy (essentially a royal coup in France). Another example is that Napoleon's victory over Spain provides the opportunity for independence in Latin America.


This illustrates the interdependence of many of these events.

I don't know whether Duncan will cover the US Civil War (probably not), but he should, as that grows from the contradictions inherent in America's founding and constitution. Hell, clear back to the declaration of Independence.

Also because the issue of slavery is a prominent one in several of the revolutions in this period. How? Haiti was a slave revolt, essentially. In France several prominent thinkers did what Jefferson failed to do. they asked "Do these rights we hold to be inalienable apply also to black men?"

That was the big failure of Washington, Jefferson, and all the others who wrote the Constitution.

But the American Revolution inspired or contributed to much of what followed. The French Revolution in particular was precipitated, in part, by the aid the French gave the Americans (money, weapons, ammo, naval actions, etc.). But its initial goals were largely inspired by what the Americans had done.

The French revolution precipitated the slave insurrection in Haiti, along with other things, and Haiti in fact abolished slavery in short order.

Napoleon is a result of the French Revolution, and his action in Spain gave rise to Latin american independence, from Mexico to Argentina (Brazil was another matter). In many of these nations, slavery too was abolished.

So Washington, Jefferson and others failed to abolish slavery in the US. Something they should have done in order to be true to their principles. Jefferson in particular, as he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, should have known that if "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," then slavery had no place in a nation such as America. Worse yet, the Framers of the Constitution compromised with the slave states in things such as the Electoral College.

But even so, neither Jefferson, nor Washington nor anyone else who fought in the war or framed the constitution did so in order topreserve slavery.

Theirs was a sin of omission. It's very bad, but not as bad as a sin of commission. The traitors in the South committed the latter, when they seceded and made war to preserve an evil institution.

And that's why it makes sense to tear down the statues and monuments to Robert E. lee, but not those of Thomas Jefferson.