Tag: the jefferson lies

Thomas Nelson Pulls David Barton’s The Jefferson Lies

World Magazine is reporting that Thomas Nelson publishers has ceased publication of The Jefferson Lies by David Barton. Thomas Kidd reports:

Casey Francis Harrell, Thomas Nelson’s director of corporate communications, told me the publishing house “was contacted by a number of people expressing concerns about [The Jefferson Lies].” The company began to evaluate the criticisms, Harrell said, and “in the course of our review learned that there were some historical details included in the book that were not adequately supported. Because of these deficiencies we decided that it was in the best interest of our readers to stop the publication and distribution.”

There will be more on this development which I will add through the afternoon.

UPDATE: The Nashville Tennessean has an extensive report here where Barton calls me “nuts.”

NPR has a report here with more from Thomas Nelson.

In the Nashville Tennessean article out this afternoon, Barton says I don’t understand how complex Virginia slave laws were and that I am “nuts” for saying Virginia law allowed Jefferson to free his slaves.  We document the laws on slavery in Getting Jefferson Right and have looked at this issue several times in blog posts. I invite readers to read those posts, paying particular attention to Robert Carter’s Deed of Emancipation, and the way Barton selectively quoted Virginia law in The Jefferson Lies. Next, consider a webpage posted by the Library of Virginia on manumissions of slaves. On that page is another Deed of Emancipation for a Francis Drake who was freed in 1791. The transcription is here. According to this source (consistent with other sources we consulted), “After the passage of the 1782 manumission act, many slaveholders privately manumitted enslaved blacks.”

Barton says there were fines against freeing slaves. We cannot find evidence for this and Barton provides none in The Jefferson Lies. Masters had to guarantee the care of slaves above and below certain ages (see the text of the law below), but these were not fines. As you can see from the text of the law, there were penalties for not following the law properly, but not for emancipating slaves legally. Clerk’s fees applied but these were minimal. Here is the 1782 Virginia Law of Manumission:

LAWS OF VIRGINIA, MAY 1782??6th OF COMMONWEALTH.

CHAP. XXI

An act to authorize the manumission of slaves. [Ch. LXI. in original.]

[Chan. Rev. p. 159.]

I. WHEREAS application hath been made to this present general assembly, that those persons who are disposed to emancipate their slaves may be empowered so to do, and the same hath been judged expedient under certain restrictions: Be it therefore enacted, That it shall hereafter be lawful for any person, by his or her last will and testament, or by any other instrument in writing, under his or her hand and seal, attested and proved in the county court by two witnesses, or acknowledged by the party in the court of the county where he or she resides to emancipate and set free, his or her slaves, or any of them, who shall thereupon be entirely and fully discharged from the performance of any contract entered into during servitude, and enjoy as full freedom as if they had been particularly named and freed by this act.

How slaves may be emancipated.

II. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That all slaves so set free, not being in the judgment of the court, of sound mind and body, or being above the age of forty-five years, or being males under the age of twenty-one, or females under the age of eighteen years, shall respectively be supported and maintained by the person so liberating them, or by his or her estate; and upon neglect or refusal so to do, the court of the county where such neglect or refusal may be, is hereby empowered and required, upon application to them made, to order the sheriff to distrain and sell so much of the person’s estate as shall be sufficient for that purpose. Provided also, That every person by written instrument in his life time, or if by last will and testament, the executors of every person freeing any slave, shall cause to be delivered to him or her, a copy of the instrument of emancipation, attested by the clerk of the court of the county, who shall be paid therefor, by the person emancipating, five shillings, to be collected in the manner of other clerk’s fees. Every person neglecting or refusing to deliver to any slave by him or her set free, such copy, shall forfeit and pay ten pounds to be recovered with costs in any court of record, one half thereof to the person suing for the same, and the other to the person to whom such copy ought to have been delivered. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace to commit to the gaol of his county, any emancipated slave travelling out of the county of his or her residence without a copy of the instrument of his or her emancipation, there to remain till such copy is produced and the gaoler’s fees paid. and on the slave travelling out of his county.

III. And be it further enacted, That in case any slave so liberated shall neglect in any year to pay all taxes and levies imposed or to be imposed by law, the court of the county shall order the sheriff to hire out him or her for so long time as will raise the said taxes and levies. Provided sufficient distress cannot be made upon his or her estate. Saving nevertheless to all and every person and persons, bodies politic or corporate, and their heirs and successors, other than the person or persons claiming under those so emancipating their slaves, all such right and title as they or any of them could or might claim if this act had never been made.

Getting Jefferson Right is available here.

World Magazine on the David Barton Controversy

Subtitled, “Christian critics challenge WallBuilders president on America’s founders,” this World Magazine article by Thomas Kidd (Baylor University) opens the door on a controversy that has been building for the past several months.

Several weeks ago, Jay Richards, Fellow at the Discovery Institute, began a process of asking conservative professors to read our book along with Barton’s materials. Kidd explains

Jay W. Richards, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and author with James Robison ofIndivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It’s Too Late, spoke alongside Barton at Christian conferences as recently as last month. Richards says in recent months he has grown increasingly troubled about Barton’s writings, so he asked 10 conservative Christian professors to assess Barton’s work.

I am not going to give any additional quotes because I want you to go read the entire piece at World.

Tomorrow, look for another major media segment on this topic. I will have it here as soon as it comes out.

Cincinnati Area Pastors Urge Boycott of Thomas Nelson Publishers Over David Barton’s Book, The Jefferson Lies

This release from a group called the Cincinnati Area Pastors briefly outlines their objections to The Jefferson Lies. As I understand it, there are more people involved in the group than are listed here. I have spoken at length to Ray McMillian. Most of the ministers in this group have carefully reviewed Barton’s claims about Jefferson and have contacted Thomas Nelson and parent company Harper Collins about their concerns. Mr. Barton cannot continue to complain that his critics are all leftists and secularists. These ministers are all serving in evangelical churches.

…….

PRESS RELEASE 

Christian Leaders Urge Boycott of Thomas Nelson Publishers Over David Barton’s Book,

The Jefferson Lies

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 11:00 am – 11:30 am

Cincinnati area African-American, white, and Messianic-Jewish pastors and church leaders are meeting at New Jerusalem Baptist Church (26 W. North Bend Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45216) to announce their boycott of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Their reasons are rooted in their opposition to the recently published book, The Jefferson Lies, by David Barton.

Bishop Dwight Wilkins, president of The Amos Project, said, “We have privately approached Thomas Nelson about our concerns, with no resolution.” The pastors/church leaders pointed to four major concerns the group has with The Jefferson Lies:

  1. It glosses over Thomas Jefferson’s unorthodox and heretical beliefs about Jesus Christ;
  2. It minimizes and justifies Thomas Jefferson’s racism;
  3. It excuses Thomas Jefferson’s practice of enslaving African-Americans.
  4. The Jefferson Lies is riddled with factual distortions and falsehoods.

Rev. Damon Lynch said, “David Barton falsely claims that Thomas Jefferson was unable to free his slaves.” In fact, Jefferson was allowed to free his slave under Virginia law, but failed to do it. The Jefferson Lies glosses over Jefferson’s real record on slaveholding, and minimizes Jefferson’s racist views.

Rabbi Michael Wolf charges that David Barton also minimizes Jefferson’s unorthodox views of Christ, his negative views of the Jews, and his contempt for the God of Abraham.

Historian, Dr. Troy Jackson, says, “This book is inaccurate, this book is offensive, and this book is dangerous.”

Presbyter Chris Beard said, “We are protesting as concerned believers in the evangelical Christian community, who believe that many are being misled by David Barton’s teachings.” Rev. Ray McMillian added, “You can’t be serious about racial unity in the church, while holding up Jefferson as a hero and champion of freedom.”

_____________________________

Media desiring to attend the press conference should contact Rev. Damon Lynch, New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 513.821.0704, or Rev. Chris Beard, Peoples Church, 513.673.7405, [email protected]. (not .com) More information will be provided at that time.

 

In the Cinci area? I hope they have a good turn out.

David Barton Takes Aim at His Critics in Part Two of The Blaze Series

Part one is here; part two of The Blaze series where Barton answers his critics is more of the same from David Barton’s first response on his Wallbuilders’ website.

The article does not mention that Coulter and I are conservative Christians, both being active in our churches, we are not afraid of religion. We did not write our book to attack Christianity but to be faithful to it. In light of that fact, a reasonable question would have been: why are conservative Christians are also critiquing your work?

Seemingly oblivious to the irony, Barton criticizes me for writing about history since I am a psychologist.

“They don’t attack the facts — they attack the education – and that’s a way to change the topic,” Barton said. “If education really matters, there’s a lot I can point out. Ben Franklin didn’t have an education at all. George Washington didn’t have a military education.”

The historian explained that Americans have traditionally prided themselves “not on the labors you wear, but the fruit you produce.” He took specific aim at Warren Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College (we mentioned Throckmorton in our original piece).

“The case of Throckmorton is a great example. He’s a psychology guy. Tell me what history experience he has — he has no training in that area at all,” he said, going on to wonder why Throckmorton is permitted to critique him with little scrutiny when he, too, purportedly has little formal history education.

We did attack “the facts.”

Furthermore, do you see what he did there? He said his critics don’t attack the facts but rather his education and then he did the same thing to me (ignoring my co-author, Michael Coulter)  in the next paragraph.  He didn’t answer our facts (even the ones raised in Part one of the Blaze series), he just criticized my profession and his perception of my training.

The primary question of fact Barton addresses is Jefferson’s faith. He says Jefferson was unorthodox in the last 15 years of his life. Jefferson was unorthodox as an older man but he began his skepticism of the Trinity before 1788 (he died in 1826), if we can believe his letter to J. P. Derieux — a letter that Barton does not cite in The Jefferson Lies.

To be continued, I am sure…