CDZ If you were a Founding Father...

[jwoodie]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

 

[OldLady]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

There was no way to get the Southern states to sign on if slavery were outlawed, but I probably would not have bragged about "All men are created equal" back in 1776, knowing that we were holding humans in slavery and keeping it legal.

 

[jwoodie]

There was no way to get the Southern states to sign on if slavery were outlawed, but I probably would not have bragged about "All men are created equal" back in 1776, knowing that we were holding humans in slavery and keeping it legal.

That was a Declaration against the British aristocracy that even abolitionists signed. It is easy to criticize people who were dealing with irresolvable issues 250 years ago.

 

[initforme]

Freedom immediately. Want the work done do it yourself. Lazy folk slaveowners were.

 

[sakinago]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

There was no way to get the Southern states to sign on if slavery were outlawed, but I probably would not have bragged about "All men are created equal" back in 1776, knowing that we were holding humans in slavery and keeping it legal.

This was the language later used to justify the freeing of slaves

 

[Mike Dwight]

I would have formed Employment opportunities , Factories, banks, total anarchy to government on this Continent. I'd develop Labor Unions a little slow, people would get hurt. Now! Now is the Time for slavery! 1911

 

[jwoodie]

Freedom immediately. Want the work done do it yourself. Lazy folk slaveowners were.

Well isn't that simplistic. So all the slaves are suddenly out of work, without any food or shelter. What then?

 

[Anathema]

Just like everything else not specified in Article I, Section 8, I would have left it up to each state to decide, individually.

 

[jwoodie]

Just like everything else not specified in Article I, Section 8, I would have left it up to each state to decide, individually.

That is the ONLY way the Constitution of the United States would have been ratified. Would the world have been better off if we had become a squabbling group of little countries like Europe?

 

[2aguy]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

There was no way to get the Southern states to sign on if slavery were outlawed, but I probably would not have bragged about "All men are created equal" back in 1776, knowing that we were holding humans in slavery and keeping it legal.

why not state that all men are created equal....? They were stating an obvious truth. Everyone was holding people as slaves, all over the world, but it was that statement at the founding of our country that made us different from all those other countries....

 

[Mike Dwight]

What I learned from Jefferson Davis is that the same document listed petitions against England for ending slavery in the States. "All men Created Equal", he said, could not have meant ending slavery from the FOunding Fathers. The document disputed the Divine Right of Kings in an era nad timeperiod of exclusively Kings. Every place in Europe was totally ruled by Kings. The Pope grants the King and his 100th Generation a Divine Right of Ruling from God. All Men are Created Equal, paraphrasing Jefferson Davis, as in religious doctrine or each one's ability to professions.

 

[Third Party]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

Would have provided a pathway to citizenship for slaves, with reparations for the owners.

 

[xyz]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

That's kind of a silly question considering all or most other Founding Fathers would be against any of that stuff.

 

[harmonica]

it was not an issue back then ...it was like the mailman delivering mail = normal

 

[Picaro]

The cotton gin ended any chance of slavery being outlawed, but the importation of slaves was outlawed, and the fact is the North had no interest in ending southern slavery either; they gradually ended slavery in the north because they weren't economical in a seasonal manufacturing and farming economy, not because of any noble instincts, and everybody from shoe making factories to shipowners made a lot of money off of southern slavery; the southern demand for shoes for their slaves, for instance, inspired the invention of the first machinery for making shoes, along with stimulating demand for textiles industries as well. Northern shippers had a monopoly on the American coastal trade. Most 'abolitionists' were of the 'ship them all back to Africa' white nationalist types, not humanitarians, as was Lincoln. The flood of white immigrant labor was treated much worse than slaves , both in the south and the north. Slaves had a high monetary value, value calculated over an average 70 year lifespan; most white labor was lucky to see 40 years old.

 

[Picaro]

Slavery came to America with the Incas, Mayans, Aztecs, native tribes, followed by the Dutch, British, Spanish, and French, and Africans as well; some of the major southern slave traders were free black and Creole families.

 

[MisterBeale]

There is no way to say how a person would think back then, you and everyone would think differently back then, because they would be raised differently and influenced differently.


Now, are you saying, if we are time travelers knowing what we know now? Going back in time?

 

[Silver Blooded]

This is going to sound REALLY bad, but as someone that enjoys studying history I find my views to be unpopular, but educated. I think what the founding fathers was perfect. Not abolished, but no more new slaves into the nation.

Let's be real, every successful civilization had forced labor at one time or another. Once the civilization becomes successful, forced labor becomes unnecessary and the citizens of that civilization become more interested in the freedom of slavery. That's what happened with European states. When their lives became more luxurious, that's when they saw slavery as an inhumane thing and fought for the rights of slaves. However, when their civilization is a mess, that's when the civilization uses forced labor to turn their land into a habitable and livable place.

That's why I don't approve of the stop of slavery in African states. If African civilization had forced labor to help with infrastructure they would be able to actually make great things with their nations. Instead... Their civilizations are fucked and will stay fucked... for a long time. Each nation has one city, maybe 2 that can be considered relevant to the world -- Cities like Lagos and Luanda. These places are hubs for commerce to trade things like diamonds, gold, oil, etc. However, the rest of their land is relatively useless due to a lack of infrastructure and workers that are completely unwilling to work.

I remember watching a movie Empire of Dust. It's a movie about some state employed Chinese engineers hired in deals with the DRC's government in order to help with their infrastructure. However, they kept running into troubles, such as how his workers kept stealing supplies, or wouldn't get to work on time. The frustrations weighed on them significantly until the end of the movie in which one of them flipped out and said this:

If you ask me, it's another way of how white people have oppressed blacks with the disguise for pretending to help. With the UN abolishing slavery for all nations, African nations will never be able get appropriate infrastructure to compete with other European nations as well as other nations that benefited from forced labor in the past, such as China. The only way any African nations would be able to eventually compete with western civs would be until western civs collapse. Until then, western civs will always have superiority over sub-Saharan civilizations.


So yea, my final point? The founding fathers should have limited slavery to ensure the slave trade doesn't grow, but still be sure it exists, and use forced labor until liberalism becomes a trend and slaves become abolished. We can't prove it, but I'm willing to bet that if the civil war didn't happen, eventually the Confederate States of America would have abolished slavery on its own once it became as rich and successful as the Union was.

 

[DOTR]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

I would have banned the importation of black slaves into the colonies and begun a program of repatriating the ones here back to their homeland.

 

[Silver Blooded]

What would you have done regarding the issue of slavery?

Would you have prevented the formation (Constitution) of the United State of America?

Would you have immediately freed all slaves?

If so, what would you have done with them?

How else would you have handled this British institution?

I would have banned the importation of black slaves into the colonies and begun a program of repatriating the ones here back to their homeland.

Ah, but what if they didn't want to go? I mean, that's pretty much what Liberia was. But if the former black slaves wouldn't want to leave the USA, would you force them to move to Liberia, or give them the choice to stay?