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Common historical fallacies: Difference between revisions
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** but even the most objectively-minded teacher has as a point of view, an underlying outlook | ** but even the most objectively-minded teacher has as a point of view, an underlying outlook | ||
== George Washington did not cut down a cherry tree == | |||
* that Washington cut down a cherry tree and, when confronted about it by his father, replied, "I cannot tell a lie" has been considered a fabrication | * that Washington cut down a cherry tree and, when confronted about it by his father, replied, "I cannot tell a lie" has been considered a fabrication | ||
* Parson Weems told the story in the 5th edition of his "The Life of Washington" (1806) | * Parson Weems told the story in the 5th edition of his "The Life of Washington" (1806) | ||
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== The Declaration's "All men are created equal" only applied to white males == | == The Declaration's "All men are created equal" only applied to white males == | ||
=== purpose of statement of "equal at birth" === | |||
* at the First Continental Congress in 1774, the colonists official opposed Parliamentary rule with the "Declaration of Resolves of the First Continental Congress" | |||
* thereby the colonial rebellion was against the Parliament and the King's policies | |||
** while specifically objecting to actions taken by the King, the Declaration of Resolves did not deny the King's sovereignty | |||
*** in fact, the objections were specifically defined as "a loyal address" | |||
click EXPAND for first and last paragraphs of the '''Declaration of Resolves'' of 1774: | |||
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<pre> | |||
Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various presences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a county | |||
To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into.</pre> | |||
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** see | |||
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_and_Resolves_of_the_First_Continental_Congress | |||
*** https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/resolves.asp | |||
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* the phrase "all men" logically refers to "all people" because: | * the phrase "all men" logically refers to "all people" because: | ||
** as included in the Declaration of Independence, the clause "that all men are created equal", | ** as included in the Declaration of Independence, the clause "that all men are created equal", | ||
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click EXPAND to read excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: | click EXPAND to read excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: | ||
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<pre>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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||
</pre> | <pre>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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.</pre> | ||
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* with that primary purpose, the statement of equality of "all men are created equal" does, in fact, mean what it says | * with that primary purpose, the statement of equality of "all men are created equal" does, in fact, mean what it says | ||
** which does, in fact, create a hypocrisy of its political and legal application to white males | ** which does, in fact, create a hypocrisy of its political and legal application to white males | ||
* | ** the South Carolina slave-owner, colonial army officer and, later politician, Charles Pinckney, objected to the bill of rights under the theory that any assertion of inherent, or natural, rights would also assert equality of men at birth | ||
*** that is, Pinckney recognized the radical statement of "all men are born equal." | |||
* having stated in the Declaration "that all men are created equal" is a "self-evident truth", then | |||
** the Founders set in motion the most important political concept in history and creation of the modern world: | ** the Founders set in motion the most important political concept in history and creation of the modern world: | ||
*** that all people are created equal | *** that all people are created equal | ||
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click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860: | click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860: | ||
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MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars): | MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars): | ||
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* Note that about75% of total cotton production was exported | * Note that about75% of total cotton production was exported | ||
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click EXPAND to view comparative table of colonial white and slave population growth: | click EXPAND to view comparative table of colonial white and slave population growth: | ||
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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* after 1800, the slave population increased dramatically following introduction of the cotton gin | * after 1800, the slave population increased dramatically following introduction of the cotton gin | ||
* non-black population growth exceeded that of blacks (free and slave) for all decennial (every 10 years) census counts except 1810 & 1880 | * non-black population growth exceeded that of blacks (free and slave) for all decennial (every 10 years) census counts except 1810 & 1880 | ||
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click on EXPAND to view chart of comparative population growth 1790-1990: | click on EXPAND to view chart of comparative population growth 1790-1990: | ||
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* Census counts marking higher black population growth are in '''bold''' | * Census counts marking higher black population growth are in '''bold''' | ||
** note that the lowest population growth counts occur following periods of war or during the Depression (1870, 1920, 1940) | ** note that the lowest population growth counts occur following periods of war or during the Depression (1870, 1920, 1940) | ||
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|19.3% | |19.3% | ||
|} | |} | ||
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click EXPAND to read passage by Jefferson on liberty, slavery and emancipation from the Notes on the State of Virginia, 1790: | click EXPAND to read passage by Jefferson on liberty, slavery and emancipation from the Notes on the State of Virginia, 1790: | ||
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<pre>And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may be come probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest. But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one=s mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation. | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII | <pre>And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may be come probable by supernatural interference! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest. But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil. We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one=s mind. I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution. The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.</pre> | ||
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII | |||
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==== Fallacy no. 2: white slave owners did not free their slaves ==== | ==== Fallacy no. 2: white slave owners did not free their slaves ==== | ||
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click EXPAND to read the Wikipedia entry on Robert Carter III's manumission (freeing) of his slaves: | click EXPAND to read the Wikipedia entry on Robert Carter III's manumission (freeing) of his slaves: | ||
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<pre>Manumission<br> | <pre>Manumission<br> | ||
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Virginia's legislature (having barred the slave trade in 1778) passed several laws sympathetic to freeing slaves, although it did not pass a law legalizing manumission until 1782, and throttled many petitions for wider emancipation. Numerous slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed their slaves, often in their wills (like Quaker John Pleasants) or deeds, and noted principles of equality and Revolutionary ideals as reason for their decisions. The number of free African Americans increased in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution, to 10 percent by 1810. In Delaware, three-fourths of the slaves had been freed by 1810. In the decade after the act's passage, Virginians had freed 10,000 slaves, without visible social disruptions. The price of slaves reached a 20-year low as the percentage listed as "black, tithable" (i.e. slaves) fell below 40%, the lowest point in the century. However, Virginia's courts sidestepped issuing appellate decisions ratifying emancipation until 1799, and the methodology of within-life emancipation was not established.</pre> | In the years after the Revolutionary War, Virginia's legislature (having barred the slave trade in 1778) passed several laws sympathetic to freeing slaves, although it did not pass a law legalizing manumission until 1782, and throttled many petitions for wider emancipation. Numerous slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed their slaves, often in their wills (like Quaker John Pleasants) or deeds, and noted principles of equality and Revolutionary ideals as reason for their decisions. The number of free African Americans increased in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution, to 10 percent by 1810. In Delaware, three-fourths of the slaves had been freed by 1810. In the decade after the act's passage, Virginians had freed 10,000 slaves, without visible social disruptions. The price of slaves reached a 20-year low as the percentage listed as "black, tithable" (i.e. slaves) fell below 40%, the lowest point in the century. However, Virginia's courts sidestepped issuing appellate decisions ratifying emancipation until 1799, and the methodology of within-life emancipation was not established.</pre> | ||
* from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carter_III#Manumission | * from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carter_III#Manumission | ||
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