Benjamin Franklin is, by far, one of the most interesting figures in American history. He’s one of my favorite historical people to read about because every time he’s mentioned, you end up learning something fascinating about him.
I recently had a discussion with someone on Lemmy who absolutely hated Benjamin Franklin solely because he owned slaves early in his life.
Nothing else mattered to him. It didn’t matter that Franklin later became one of the earliest and most outspoken abolitionists in American history, serving as president of the Philadelphia Abolitionist Society for years and advocating publicly for the abolition of slavery.
I completely condemn the fact that Franklin owned slaves. Slavery is morally reprehensible and indefensible. At the same time, I don’t believe that should prevent us from recognizing Franklin as one of the most fascinating and consequential figures in American history. His life demonstrates that people can hold deeply immoral beliefs, later reject them, and spend years working to undo the injustice they once accepted.
It’s very possible moral in the context of your own time. To still be seen as a moral bastion, centuries after the public discourse has advanced beyond anything you’ve ever been really exposed to is astonishing, so much so that some people are remembered specifically for that.
I’m sure in a century or two, 99.99% of us here will hold at least one view that is seen as reprehensible to the future zeitgeist. Grandpa and Grandma having some dated views isn’t something recent, after all XD
Benjamin Franklin is, by far, one of the most interesting figures in American history. He’s one of my favorite historical people to read about because every time he’s mentioned, you end up learning something fascinating about him.
I recently had a discussion with someone on Lemmy who absolutely hated Benjamin Franklin solely because he owned slaves early in his life.
Nothing else mattered to him. It didn’t matter that Franklin later became one of the earliest and most outspoken abolitionists in American history, serving as president of the Philadelphia Abolitionist Society for years and advocating publicly for the abolition of slavery.
I completely condemn the fact that Franklin owned slaves. Slavery is morally reprehensible and indefensible. At the same time, I don’t believe that should prevent us from recognizing Franklin as one of the most fascinating and consequential figures in American history. His life demonstrates that people can hold deeply immoral beliefs, later reject them, and spend years working to undo the injustice they once accepted.
It’s very possible moral in the context of your own time. To still be seen as a moral bastion, centuries after the public discourse has advanced beyond anything you’ve ever been really exposed to is astonishing, so much so that some people are remembered specifically for that.
I’m sure in a century or two, 99.99% of us here will hold at least one view that is seen as reprehensible to the future zeitgeist. Grandpa and Grandma having some dated views isn’t something recent, after all XD
People can be great in some ways yet fallible or bad in others, particularly when looked at through the lense of time.
Follies and achievements should often be looked at with the perspective that we’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot from both.