Opinion of Alexander Hamilton
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  Opinion of Alexander Hamilton
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Author Topic: Opinion of Alexander Hamilton  (Read 1974 times)
All Along The Watchtower
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« Reply #25 on: November 12, 2014, 05:36:48 PM »

FF.

Also he cannot by definition be the worst of the founders, considering that he did not own hundreds of human beings as property and was not a supporter of slave-holder agrarianism.

You may be correct about quantity, but I do not believe that Hamilton was entirely innocent of chattel slavery. http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2011_winter_spring/hamilton-and-slavery.html

In any case, individuals ought to be assessed based on the context of their time period. I suppose you would condemn Jefferson for being homophobic in addition to being a slaveholder? Was the Magna Carta a horrible document since its crafters all "owned" serfs?

Whereas chattel slavery had unfortunately been a part of American colonial life for nearly two hundred years at the time period, Alexander Hamilton existed in a time period in which the colonies had already revolted against British mercantilist policies, and did more than any other individual to implement those very same British mercantilist policies that had been rejected.

Chattel slavery as practiced in the Americas was among the most cruel, barbaric, inhumane, and downright evil institutions ever created. And it was controversial even in Jefferson's day. Don't make excuses for it.
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RogueBeaver
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« Reply #26 on: November 12, 2014, 06:08:03 PM »

FF.
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SPC
Chuck Hagel 08
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« Reply #27 on: November 12, 2014, 07:54:55 PM »

FF.

Also he cannot by definition be the worst of the founders, considering that he did not own hundreds of human beings as property and was not a supporter of slave-holder agrarianism.

You may be correct about quantity, but I do not believe that Hamilton was entirely innocent of chattel slavery. http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2011_winter_spring/hamilton-and-slavery.html

In any case, individuals ought to be assessed based on the context of their time period. I suppose you would condemn Jefferson for being homophobic in addition to being a slaveholder? Was the Magna Carta a horrible document since its crafters all "owned" serfs?

Whereas chattel slavery had unfortunately been a part of American colonial life for nearly two hundred years at the time period, Alexander Hamilton existed in a time period in which the colonies had already revolted against British mercantilist policies, and did more than any other individual to implement those very same British mercantilist policies that had been rejected.

Chattel slavery as practiced in the Americas was among the most cruel, barbaric, inhumane, and downright evil institutions ever created. And it was controversial even in Jefferson's day. Don't make excuses for it.

I was not making excuses for it; but surely calling virtually every notable person of that era a horrible person due to their involvement in an institution unique to its time period is a bit absurd?
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