Why is the behavior of our ancestors excused?

Question

In the U.S. history classes I have taken, we barely ever talked about slavery or the brutal tactics used the against the Idians when we took thier land. When presidents like Geroge Washington are bragged about, no one ever mentions his use of slaves.No one ever mentions how right after Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address, he went right to bossing around his slaves. Why is it that when hese things are reflected on, it is considered OK? So what if these people lived 200 years ago, they were by today's standards, "bad people". I don't understand why just because these people led our country and founded it, they have to be considered good people.

Grendle, I am sorry, but for lack of a better term, your a jackass. Your proving my point. You think it is ok what our ancesotors did to the natives? Thats like saying it is ok that Hitler tried to take over Eruope and was responsible for countles deaths. Today our country (or at least will be once again once G.W.B. is out of office) is a great place but the road to it was one filled of atrocities. I don't understand why people think that jhust because these things happened so long ago that the behavior is ok. If the technology available today was around back then, the magnitude of the events which led us here would have been disasterous, more so than world war ll

Answer 1

let me make one correction--Lincoln never owned slaves; his family was too poor while he was growing up.

Now, I don't know what level education you are at, but I was a history major in college & had to take a course on the history of the study of history--historiography, in other words. What I was told then might explain things.
Up to a certain point in any country's education (in the US, it's usually through most of high school), there is a certain amount of whitewashing being done, to promote in part a sense of pride & patriotism in the young; there is much to be proud of, after all. ("My country, right or wrong" was a popular notion for quite some time) Also, the causes & circumstances can be too complex for the younger minds, so grade schoolers get more of an overview. The other part of this is that in grade school & high school, the course on US history is supposed to be complete, from the Indians & colonists through to the 20th c. (I never got past Vietnam, & that's when we were lucky!) You have little chance to do in-depth study on some of these things. In college, you can take a course on one era and therefore, can get really into it.
So with all that, it's no wonder the poorer parts of our history are glossed over. I mean, I was told that some of the founding fathers had slaves, and that some freed them on their deathbeds. I knew that the Indians were pushed off their ancestral lands, tho not the details. Everybody likes to cover up mistakes, too.
But this is not just in the US--other countries do the same things.

As for your last sentence, you have to remember this--the people who founded the country were overall good people, but you have to consider them in context. Then, it was acceptable if you had some money & a large farm to have slaves. That's the hazard of history--21st c ideals & morals won't apply to people living 100, 200, 1000 years ago. Certain words used to be acceptable, now people ban Huckleberry Finn (for example) because of them. Never mind that the usage is benign for the time it was written. Context, context. Try not to judge the mistakes of the past too harshly--society has tried to correct some of them.

One last note from my class--it does change. Growing up, I heard more of the country's mistakes than, say, my parents or grandparents did at that age. I can remember discussing Manifest Destiny and its flaws in high school, for example.

Answer 2

I have seen others touch upon this but not go too deep. The problem with your argument is that you are putting 21st century morals and values on a time when they did not exist. In todays world yes many of the founding fathers would be looked at as racist.However we should not condemn them. Most were great men that were trying to do the best they could for as many as they could. Many wanted to end slaver in 1787, but the southern states would have never supported it so they tried to contain it. 600+ years ago if you were a money changer you were immoral and an outcast , because no Christian would want that job. Thus we get the Jewish sterotype of being Greedy, not realizing that was one of the few job they could have that paid decent. Hell just 40 years aro inter-racial couple were looked down upon. That is why we study history, to try to learn the mistakes of your past so we don't repeat them. However how will 500 years from now look at us?
Lets just take a far fetched example: In 400 years from now mankind has developed tha ability to communicate with animals. The world is now all vegitarian, but look back at our brutal ancestors who killed these creatures by the millions and what would they say?

Maybe a less far fetched, what will they say about us if we continue to destroy the enviornment? Hindsight is always 20/20. But if you really just can't place current values on the past. If you do you are being an unfair judge.

Answer 3

Of course the behavior of our ancestors is excused. The Indians were the friends of our enemies and plotted with the British. They had to be destroyed. Oh, and by the way I appreciate the fact that my ancestors wanted single family dwellings and not ten families to a tee-pee.

As for slavery; all races, cultures, and/or tribes have been inslaved at one time or another throughout history. The strong rise up and free themselves, sometimes becoming a big parts(arts, medicine/science, business, government, invention, and sports) of the culture who inslaved them. Others are even more determined, and create a whole new culture of thier own.(Romans)

As for America and the people who were inslaved here, (whether slaves of colonist or slaves of the British empire) they have always been considered Americans. The history of the slaves of colonist during the revolutionary war is incomplete in my opinon. Had they been conspiring with the British as the Indians were. I have no doubt they would have sufferd the same fate. However we hear no stories of this. So my conclution is they were a part of revolutionary America and more than likely fought right beside the colonist for the freedom of America.

Thier freedom seems to have be predetermined by thier ancestors. Although it took nearly another hundred years to be free, possibly another 150 untill they are treated as complete equals, and hopefully less than both for complete melting of the cultures. It will happen. The culture soul of these two great tribes is unstoppable and melting of the two will create the greatest tribe of all time. And possibly a new independent culture/civilization we have never before seen.

We have already conquered the world with our arts, sciences/medicine, technology, and sports. We must do our part to keep this type of culture moving foward, and if we do create the greatest culture/civilzation of all time. Our ancestors behavior is absolutly excused.

Answer 4

Lots of our ancestors didn't learn English if they were the immigrants. Their children did. The factory foremen had to learn a bit of Italian or German or Greek or whatever was the relevant language for their floor of the factory. The first newspaper report of the Declaration of Independence was in German, not English, because in Philadelphia in 1776, German was spoken about as much as Spanish is in Los Angeles today. If children born and raised in the United States are not speaking English fluently by the age of 6 or 7, then we have a serious problem, but if people who have moved here, and maybe only plan to stay for a few years don't learn English, I don't really see that as a problem. The Pew Center estimates that the average illegal immigrant stays for about 3.5 years before returning home - for the people who don't plan to stay in the USA long term, I don't think there's really a need for them to learn English. I lived (legally) in the Netherlands for two years and learned almost no Dutch, and never got the impression that anyone there was bothered by having to speak English with me. And of course it's a serious concern when anyone, immigrant or not, legal or not, is committing crimes. I am reasonably pro-immigration, in the sense that I think legal immigration quotas should be expanded, because people are going to come anyways, and we should keep track of them. However, I think that if an illegal immigrant is arrested for a crime, he should by default be considered a flight risk and held without bail, then, if convicted, he should serve his sentence then be deported.

Answer 5

First,
Abe Lincoln was never a slave owner, and is credited with not only fighting the Civil War to end slavery, but making the Emancipation Declaration to end slavery in the southern states.
Washington dislike slavery, but Virginia laws did not allow him to free his slaves.
All people of the past had to deal with the world they lived in, not the world of today. Who knows what we do today will be considered evil in the future?

Answer 6

Oh pleeeese. Is the fact that slaves were sold by other africans taught ? Americans DID NOT go to africa and steal people. They were bought from africans that wanted to get rid of criminals or other low life. Sometimes, slaves were stolen from other tribes during raids.
Is the fact that africans are still drinking the same water that they wash animals and defecate in taught ? No. african-americans just can not handle the truth. Slavery is still taught in schools.
Omissions abound. Lies are rampant. Really,
how many schools that include slavery include the fact that africans sold africans ? Do you REALLY want the truth taught ? The complete truth ?

Answer 7

I agree with you. The reality is that the masses want things kept simple, and the shepards of the world do what they can to withhold any cause for them to ask questions or doubt their qualifications to hold the reins. They -the general population- want their heroes in capes, and their villians in masks. They don't want to hear about Washington's slaves, or about Hitler reading to the blind (unsubstantiated, most likely never happened). The way history is recorded is greatly shaped and swayed by those in power. Be careful about what you trust.

Answer 8

HOW DARE YOU!
You conceited, jumped up little mega-puppy, where do you get off JUDGING those who built the nation in which your moronic, lazy behind is coddled from cradle to grave, given free education, and the opportunity to become whatever you wish.
Ooo oo oo, sob, Washington owned slaves. Duh! How else do you think he grew the wealth to indulge his hobby of military service that led him to lead the American Revolutionary Army to victory and guide the all-important formative years of this new nation?
Lincoln didn't OWN slaves, idiot. And even if he had, his Emancipation Proclamation would have freed them.
And as for the damn aboriginals ... they had their chance and blew it. If they had just killed the early settlers instead of making nice, they might have discouraged the conquest of their land.
This is how life is, sonny. This is the history that led to your life of luxury. Lap it up, but don't you dare judge it; you don't have the right.

Answer 9

Read the People's History of the United States by Howard ZInn... he does not sugarcoat history...

Answer 10

Simply stated, many world leaders are not good people. First, the world is "owned and run" by psychopaths--google new world order, for a start. Their mid level managers--presidents, etc. are selected and serve the "agenda", not "the people". Wake up!!

This has been going on for milennia. See http://www.montalk.net and http://www.educate-yourself.org

It would be "nice" if those sites were "delusional", but, sadly they're not. :)))