"History is - often as not - our present values projected onto the past." I don't know who said that (and I probably mangled the quote a little), but it refers to the practice of "presentism", which is when some one (usually a historian) looks at the past with the values of a modern person rather than a person alive at that time.
"History is - often as not - our present values projected onto the past." I don't know who said that (and I probably mangled the quote a little), but it refers to the practice of "presentism", which is when some one (usually a historian) looks at the past with the values of a modern person rather than a person alive at that time.
Duncan (and many many others) did the same thing when discussing the American Revolution, particularly the institution of slavery. We in our modern society rightly view slavery as an abomination, but that is an extremely recent development. The Founding Fathers who were abolitionists were actually ahead of their time by quite a few generations, and I don't think it's fair to hold those who weren't to our modern standard - even if some of their contemporaries were fairly close to our current understanding.
After all, modern Western man has lived in a world of abolition for more or less 150 years. Meanwhile, the Founding Fathers were living in a world of slavery that stretched way back into the murky dark of pre-history. To be an abolitionist was extremely abnormal at the time, and would remain that way for several more generations.
In summary, the Founding Fathers (whether pro-slavery or anti-slavery) were visionaries who were pushing the bounds of Western civiliation and overthrowing centuries of monarchy to establish something wholey new. I don't think it's fair to criticize those who would not abolish slavery (one of the oldest human institutions, perhaps only prostitution is older) considering just how many other ancient institutions they were busy overthrowing at the time.
Dead on. I recently read Ordinary Men and it changed how I view human behavior in just about every historical and modern context: most people are conformists that want to fit in and are either incapable or unwilling to go against the current, and many also will violate their consciences in order to confirm with an authority figure’s commands or wishes.
"History is - often as not - our present values projected onto the past." I don't know who said that (and I probably mangled the quote a little), but it refers to the practice of "presentism", which is when some one (usually a historian) looks at the past with the values of a modern person rather than a person alive at that time.
Duncan (and many many others) did the same thing when discussing the American Revolution, particularly the institution of slavery. We in our modern society rightly view slavery as an abomination, but that is an extremely recent development. The Founding Fathers who were abolitionists were actually ahead of their time by quite a few generations, and I don't think it's fair to hold those who weren't to our modern standard - even if some of their contemporaries were fairly close to our current understanding.
After all, modern Western man has lived in a world of abolition for more or less 150 years. Meanwhile, the Founding Fathers were living in a world of slavery that stretched way back into the murky dark of pre-history. To be an abolitionist was extremely abnormal at the time, and would remain that way for several more generations.
In summary, the Founding Fathers (whether pro-slavery or anti-slavery) were visionaries who were pushing the bounds of Western civiliation and overthrowing centuries of monarchy to establish something wholey new. I don't think it's fair to criticize those who would not abolish slavery (one of the oldest human institutions, perhaps only prostitution is older) considering just how many other ancient institutions they were busy overthrowing at the time.
Dead on. I recently read Ordinary Men and it changed how I view human behavior in just about every historical and modern context: most people are conformists that want to fit in and are either incapable or unwilling to go against the current, and many also will violate their consciences in order to confirm with an authority figure’s commands or wishes.