Howard Zinn apparently has a new rival and his name is Henry Wiencek. See John Fea here and here.
For the record, I like Thomas Jefferson a lot, mainly for his ideas and ideals. I recognize the man was flawed and don't believe in whitewashing history. The way I understand Jefferson and slavery: According to his ideals, Jefferson was against slavery. The law did not, as David Barton intimates, prevent Jefferson from freeing his slaves. The bottom line is Jefferson got himself into trouble with his spendthrift ways and THAT'S why he didn't end up freeing his slaves.
[James Wilson, btw, had some serious issues with debt as well.]
1 comment:
I've had an infuriating scholastic relationship with Jefferson, alternating between admiration and contempt. In the end, I do not like Jefferson. I finally settled on the opinion that he is a bad person and a great man, but he was so contradictory that maybe I lend too much weight to some of his writings and not enough to others. Maybe I'm wrong on both opinions. It makes him one of the more interesting historic personalities to study, to be sure.
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