Sunday, January 8, 2017

Alexander Hamilton did not believe "all men are created equal"

Sadly none of the Founding Fathers held views on "Race" that are acceptable to modern standards.  However they did not all hold the same views either.

It is a fact that pretty much all of the notable Founding Fathers opposed Slavery.  The Wallbuilders website does a good Job documenting quotes on this subject.  But they are a website with a Dominionist agenda, ignoring plenty of the context of all of that.  I am also someone well aware that opposing Slavery was not in itself proof of not being a Racist, many Whites opposed Slavery because they wanted Africans gone from the country entirely.  There was often a genuine outrage at how Slaves were treated, but that was often little more significant then being outraged by Animal Cruelty.

I've seen it claimed a few times that George Washington freed his slaves when the Revolutionary War ended, but Thomas Jefferson did not.  Out of an agenda to try and make Jefferson seem the worst of all of them on this issue.  This is false, Washington didn't free his slaves then, I know this because there are quotes of him explaining why he didn't.  The State laws in Virginia pretty much made it impossible for a Freed Slave to remain Free.  Thomas Jefferson also lived in Virginia and provided the exact same explanation.  You can morally question handling the situation that way if you want, I don't know what I would have done if it were me, but you can't just ignore it and deny that there was a reason for people who opposed slavery to continue owning slaves regardless.  Thomas Jefferson included a condemnation of slavery in the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, it was the Southern delegates who had that part removed.

Depending on what you choose to emphasize, it can be easy to make Alexander Hamilton's views on Slavery seem preferable to Thomas Jefferson's.  That is unfortunate to me as on nearly every other issue I certainly see Alexander Hamilton as the worst of the Founding Fathers.  And thus I lament the fact that a popular Musical praised by my fellow SJWs for it's Ethnic casting has made Hamilton suddenly the most popular of the Founding Fathers.

Alexander Hamilton was anti-immigration.  “the influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to change and corrupt the national spirit; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities.”  Quoted Grant and Davison, The Founders of the Republic on Immigration, Naturalization, and Aliens, p. 52.

Hamilton also once said.  “All communities divide themselves into the few and the many.  The first are the rich and the well born, the others the mass of the people…The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge and determine right.  Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share of government.  They will check the unsteadiness of the second.”  Democracy for the Few. Michael Parenti. St. Martin’s Press. New York. 1977. p.51.

So Hamilton may or may not have believed poor uneducated lower class white people were equal to Negreos.  But he certainly did not believe "All Men are Crated Equal".  It shows that that quote came from Jefferson not Hamilton, doubt it's sincerity all you want.

When people say things like "the Electoral Collage exists because the Founding Fathers didn't think the common people could be trusted to make decisions".  What they really mean are the Hamiltonians.

Alexander Hamilton wanted to make the Presidency a life time appointment, and same with Senators.  If he'd had his way the President would be a King in all but name.  There was prior precedent in Human History for a King being democratically elected, chiefly Pre-Republic Rome.

Speaking of Rome.  Hamilton once told Jefferson that Julius Caesar was the greatest man who ever lived.

Alexander Hamilton actually liked the from of Government Britain had at that time, he viewed it as nearly the ideal form of Government.  He supported the American Revolution only because he felt the Colonies should have their own Parliament and not be Subject to one across an Ocean. (Men like Hamilton saw themselves as revolting against Parliament far more so then The King.)  Parliament did not represent the entire population of Britain back then, only the Nobility and wealthy land owners.

That is why I find Webster Tarpley's praising of Hamilton hilarious, he clearly does not know what he's talking about.

People will sometimes use Thomas Jefferson's support for the French Revolution to say he approved of The Terror.  This is done taking things way out of context.  His last strong statement of support for the French Jacobins was in 1793 before he had even learned that King Louis XVI had been executed, because news didn't travel as fast back then.  The full Reign of Terror started even later then that.  Jefferson did, once that had happened, condemn Robespierre.
https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/french-revolution

Alexander Hamilton however condemned the French Revolution from the start, in 1789 long before any of why it's viewed so darkly today happened.  Hamilton supported our Revolution based on geographical independence, but the Peasantry of France wanting basic Human Rights was not something he could bring himself to Support.

That Hamilton had at least one quote specifically condemning Robespierre I find ironic.  Because in many ways though not all Robespierre was the Hamiltonian of the French Revolution.  He too wanted a Strong Authoritarian Central Government with a strong leader.  He too wanted a Republic that was a Monarchy in all but name.

In Conspiracy Theory circles, the chief disagreement between Hamilton and Jefferson talked about tends to be the Bank.  Depending on one's agenda each gets accused of being the pawn of Rich Bankers while the other is painted as their enemy.  I unlike a lot of people am least certain of my views on economic issues, they are too complicated for me to grasp.

However the problem with Webster Tarpley's pro-Hamilton narrative is that even non Conspiracy Theorists like Wikipedia admit that the Bank of The United States was partly owned by Foreign Bankers.  So his claim that it was a protection against British manipulation of our Economy is just plain wrong.  Tarpley constantly talks about the British system being the ultimate Oligarchy, but he ignores the Bank of England so he can praise Hamilton while avoiding that the Bank of The United States was directly molded after the Bank of England.  Now I mostly agree with Tarpley on Donald Trump.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/opinion/what-hamilton-forgets-about-alexander-hamilton.html

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