Alexander Hamilton, 1st Secretary of the United States Treasury - Alexander Hamilton, Enslaver?

Started by Erica Howton on Monday, November 9, 2020
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11/9/2020 at 3:11 PM

Articles here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/arts/alexander-hamilton-enslaver...

Alexander Hamilton, Enslaver? New Research Says Yes
A paper by a researcher at the Schuyler Mansion finds overlooked evidence in letters and Hamilton’s own account books indicating that he bought, sold and personally owned slaves.

https://parks.ny.gov/documents/historic-sites/SchuylerMansionAlexan...

“AS ODIOUS AND IMMORAL A THING” Alexander Hamilton’s Hidden History as an Enslaver BY JESSIE SERFILIPPI SCHUYLER MANSION STATE HISTORIC SITE

11/10/2020 at 1:25 AM

Thanks for posting.

One of the interesting points to me is that slavery is more obscured in the North.

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11/10/2020 at 10:49 AM

Before Abraham Lincoln you had another USA, and even Benjamin Franklin had slaves, but he later changed his opinion to be against slavery, it's not a good practise to use a later modern view transferd on historical morality as what is deemed to be good, bad, right or wrong have changed over time. Alexander Hamilton, probably just acted as many others did in his time doing things within what was then accepted and considered legal.

11/10/2020 at 12:56 PM

Absolutely true, Ulf.

There is a lot of myth making around Hamilton in particular (see the musical); partly because of his extraordinary rags-to-riches story. And in his story one can see the strains of different colonial American cultures coming together, with end results of thoughts and systems that endure.

But may need updating also, just as the ethics have.

11/10/2020 at 1:00 PM

Ulf - New Yorkers like me tend not to think about how our glorious city was as involved in slave trade, just as the Southern cities were also. And London also for that matter,

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