George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and other founding fathers were all land speculators on a grand scale.Of course there's nothing wrong with making a buck, right?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
More About the Founders
TYWKIWDBI has a fascinating post up which reminded me of how much I dislike the attitude often expressed about the Founding Fathers, especially among 2nd Amendment apologists. Quoting When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes:
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
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So what is your point?
ReplyDeleteThere was since the Quebec Acts precluded any movement west of the Alleghenies. Washington and the rest had their eyes set on that land prior to the Seven Years/French and Indian War. The British government put the kibosh on those plans by passing the Quebec Acts.
ReplyDeleteI finished reading Chernow's "Washington: A Life" last month and I was struck by when folks like Washington, Mdiason, Adams, et al. determined that the nation's capitol would be located in what is Washington, DC---they immediately purchased tracts of land there before the decision was announced to the public.
ReplyDeleteOur founding fathers also thought it was cool to kill all the brown folks land and force the black folks to work in it.
ReplyDelete"Our founding fathers also thought it was cool to kill all the brown folks land and force the black folks to work in it."
ReplyDeleteThat started with the British government well before there was a United States.
The point is, FWM, they were just men. They were not the demi-gods you and your friends make them out to be.
ReplyDeleteMikey,
ReplyDeleteThe point is, FWM, they were just men.
You are right, they are just men.
Were they men who made mistakes? Yes.
Question is should the rest of their lives be judged solely by those mistakes?
Should everything else they did be discounted because of those mistakes?
No, of course not, their ideas should not be discounted. They should be considered critically and rationally. What many pro gun folks do in citing the "founders" is not rational. It's more like extreme religion.
ReplyDelete@anonymous - Own slaves is a pretty huge mistake.
ReplyDelete@FatWhiteMan - So when the founders do something good, like freedom of speech, then we take the credit. But when they do something bad, like steal the Native Americans land and force black people to farm it, then we blame it on the British?