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mmcwilliams | on: Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner.
l0ng1nu5 | parent | next
So were most aristocrats of the time. Applying presentism doesn't invalidate the idea.
mmcwilliams | root | parent | next
But there were also abolitionists at the time, even amongst that class. Jefferson not being among them does, actually, diminish his standing and his views on justice. This quote, for example, does not acknowledge that there are also laws which are unjust to obey; such as the owning of human beings in chattel slavery.
pizza | root | parent | next
I don’t think suggesting that his quote would imply his slaves would be justified in violating their own enslavement is any kind of presentism.
seanmcdirmid | root | parent | next
It is just hypocritical: even his time most people knew slavery was unjust.
DannyBee | root | parent | next
He never actually said it, either.
arrowsmith | parent
… in a society where slavery was legal, widespread, and rarely questioned.

Murder has never been legal.

mmcwilliams | root | parent
The legality of it is not in question (the purpose of this quote). It was as unjust then as it is now.