Thanks for putting out some info that I didn't have the time to Thomas. I don't think Jefferson was a bad man, I just can't compare him to Ghandi on a libertarian level.
--- In [email protected], "Thomas L. Knapp" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Quoth James Landrith: > > > The point being made earlier in this thread is that this clear > > and egregious inconsistency is not a good reason to invalidate his > > significant contributions in the realm of liberty advocacy. In > short, his > > ownership of slaves was wrong - really, really wrong and inexcusable > - but > > it doesn't make his more libertarian views invalid. > > Precisely. > > I don't know if Jefferson bought any slaves or not, but he did sell > them (one account book page of his that I've seen in the national > archives includes the record of the sale of a slave), so there's no > point in pretending that he just exercised "friendship" rather than > asserting "ownership." > > Jefferson urged Americans to "bind government down with the chains of > the Constitution" -- then rammed through the Louisiana Purchase even > though he believed it was unconstitutional. > > Jefferson ran against John Adams and decried his imprisonment of > critics -- but when a New York publication ran articles which pointed > out some of his less-than-good-PR aspects, he leaned on state > prosecutors to press criminal libel charges, and to argue (after the > manner of English monarchs) that making "defamatory" statements about > presidents, even if they were true, should be a crime. > > Jefferson wrote in a letter in response to the Burr situation that it > was okay for the military to arrest American citizens without a > warrant and to detain them without charge -- as long as the > President's heart was in the right place. > > In action, Jefferson was often quite simply anti-libertarian. However, > the fact he did not always live up to the principles he so ably > articulated doesn't invalidate those principles. > > Tom Knapp > ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
