Comments on: Thomas Nelson Pulls David Barton’s The Jefferson Lies

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:38:24 +0000

In reply to Byron Harvey. Well, I can attest to that Byron.

By: Jon Rowe

Jon Rowe — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:28:23 +0000

I haven’t studied Jefferson’s views on race/slavery as deeply as I have his views on religion; still I have looked over the race/slavery issue quite a bit. I’m no fan of Barton’s work. I do see Jefferson was quite distressed about slavery and give him credit for articulating the ideals of the Declaration of Independence which are anti-slavery (if you work out the logic of the DOI’s principles). I think Jefferson would have liked to have seen his slaves freed. What Barton doesn’t admit is it was Jefferson’s character flaws that were responsible for him not seeing his slaves freed. Yes Jefferson’s hands were arguably tied. But by what? By his financial improvidence that left his estate in so much debt that he couldn’t afford to free his slaves.

By: Krista Vessell

Krista Vessell — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:28:23 +0000

Jon Rowe, Jefferson also advocated deportation of blacks because, in his own words, “Their amalgamation with the other color produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character can innocently consent.” – Letter to Edward Coles, August 25, 1814.

He also expressed this same sentiment in his “Notes on the State of Virginia:”

“Among the Romans emancipation required but one effort. The slave, when made free, might mix with, without staining the blood of his master. But with us a second is necessary, unknown to history. When freed, he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture.”

Personally, I feel that this had something to do with Jefferson’s reluctance to simply free his slaves the way Edward Coles did.

By: TxHistoryProf

TxHistoryProf — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:28:23 +0000

Jon Rowe,

Jefferson’s lavish Parisian lifestyle caused more of his financial issues than other issues. If he truly wanted to free his slaves he would have found a way to curtail his spending that would allow him to free his slaves. Like others in the Southern planter class, he had grown to accustomed to the lifestyle that slave labor afforded him and also like others freed slaves upon his death when he would be in no need of temporal pleasures slaves afforded him.

By: ken

ken — Wed, 30 May 2018 20:28:23 +0000

J.R.Francis says:

September 8, 2012 at 11:07 pm

“Secondly, the VA law you quote above is dated 1782. Barton states that some of these provisions were repealed in 1806”

Because Barton mis-quoted the 1782 law, claiming it was the law that prevented Jefferson from freeing his slaves. And warren has addressed the other laws in place after 1806 in this blog (and in his book).

By: AGR

AGR — Wed, 30 May 2018 19:18:02 +0000

You do not have to go beyond Jefferson himself to know that slave owners could free slaves during his time. He freed two slaves in the 1790s, Robert and James Hemings. He freed 5 enslaved men in his will. You can see the records of the emancipations in the Albemarle County Court House and copies of the deeds in Special Collections at UVA and the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. That he freed these men is discussed in nearly every Jefferson biography.

By: Lynn David

Lynn David — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:14:53 +0000

I suspect you gave the Tennessean a quote about the 1782 Virginia Law of Manumission and Robert Carter’s Deed of Emancipation; and yet they did not use it. In doing so they give creedence to Barton’s “nuts.” Though saying that and stating he has “sources” which evidently were not quoted (else you would have discovered them in your research of his footnotes) doesn’t bode well for Barton.

By: Byron Harvey

Byron Harvey — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:14:53 +0000

I am very happy to hear that Barton’s book has been pulled. That said, let the record reflect that I know Warren Throckmorton far better than does David Barton, and I have personally called Dr. Throckmorton “nuts”, and other even more graphic things, on more than one occasion.

I’m just sayin’…

Love ya, Warren!!!!!

By: Tom L

Tom L — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:14:53 +0000

^^ sarcasm^^ ;D

By: James Ferguson

James Ferguson — Wed, 30 May 2018 18:14:53 +0000

I suppose the Bartonites will organize a boycott of Thomas Nelson publishers. Too bad the the publishing house didn’t proof check the copy before printing it to begin with.