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Worst Americans In History?

Well, as I'm sure you know, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams, and the other half of the Founding Fathers who did not own slaves, were all (or at least almost all) Northerners. [Indeed, the two Adams were from New England.] Slavery was FAR less entrenched in the North, although it was not unheard of to see slaves in Boston or Philadelphia. Cultural context is important in evaluating the character of historical figures.

Do you know of any of our Founding Fathers from the southern colonies who were not slave-owners? There might have been a few, but not many.
 

Patrick

Council Member
Well, as I'm sure you know, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams, and the other half of the Founding Fathers who did not own slaves, were all (or at least almost all) Northerners. [Indeed, the two Adams were from New England.] Slavery was FAR less entrenched in the North, although it was not unheard of to see slaves in Boston or Philadelphia. Cultural context is important in evaluating the character of historical figures.

Do you know of any of our Founding Fathers from the southern colonies who were not slave-owners? There might have been a few, but not many.
Benjamin Franklin owned slaves, but freed his and became a staunch abolitionist. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Samuel Adams, John Adams and Thomas Paine did not own slaves.
 
And all those guys were Northerners; later on, they would have been called Yankees. I still don't know of any of the Founding Fathers from the southern colonies who were NOT slave-owners. I'm not saying there WEREN'T any; only that I don't KNOW of any. James Madison, it is said, was strongly opposed to slavery, and believed it was bad for both the slave and the slave-owner. Yet he was a slave-owner his entire life!
 

moddem38

Council Member
Lots of candidates: Aaron Burr's got to be on the list.

One more remote person I would add, William Yancey, (Southern secessionist, d.1863,not known widely but there may not have been a Confederacy without him).

Nathan Bedford Forrest (Brutal Confed general and founder of the Klan).

Woodrow Wilson--pushed us into WWI and passed horribly repressive Sedition and Espionage Acts.
 

middleview

President
Supporting Member
Oh, you spent time in uniform WELL....who the f**k hasn't?
American uniform? There are billions who have not. In any case, you aren't the guy who gets to decide who is an American. Maybe you'd like to establish some new rules? Only pure aryans are true Americans? I'd venture a guess that your version of America would have every single member of the KKK and American Nazi party signing up to join you, but not a lot of us who view the first amendment as vital and respect the rights of all Americans to their own opinions.
 

Patrick

Council Member
Lots of candidates: Aaron Burr's got to be on the list.

One more remote person I would add, William Yancey, (Southern secessionist, d.1863,not known widely but there may not have been a Confederacy without him).

Nathan Bedford Forrest (Brutal Confed general and founder of the Klan).

Woodrow Wilson--pushed us into WWI and passed horribly repressive Sedition and Espionage Acts.
Ah, yes. Aaron Burr. Thomas Jefferson's vice-president who sought to establish himself as Emperor. Ironically, Alexander Hamilton, whom Aaron Burr killed in a duel, once described Burr as an "embryo Caesar." Hamilton proved to be remarkably prescient with that remark.

How about Jefferson Davis?
 

middleview

President
Supporting Member
Nathan Bedford Forrest (Brutal Confed general and founder of the Klan).

He was in command of the attack on Fort Pillow in which his troops massacred Union soldiers who had surrendered.
 

trapdoor

Governor
If anyone was an "embryo Caesar" it would have been Hamilton himself, who during the run up to the creation of the Constitution suggested America establish an hereditary aristocracy.

My own thoughts on Burr are earlier in this thread. He wasn't among the worst Americans, even during his own era.
 
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