William Spivey
2 min readDec 15, 2022

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I generally prefer not to argue miltiple issues at once. I'd be happy to discuss anything one at a time, I'm not going anywhere. As for the breeding farms, it wasn't merely an issue of an alternative way to create slaves that was arguably more expensive. Tobacco producing states including Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware had excess slaves because they'd ruined their fields by failing to rotate crops and other methods of maximizing the yield. Their weather was too cold to grow sugar, and rice.

Eliminating the international slave trade gave them a new "crop" which in Virginia became the leading export, surpassing tobacco the previous top export. Jefferson, who eliminated the international slave trade on the first day possible as outlined in the Constitution, instantly enriching himself and other Virginia plantation owners.

He wrote George Washington about the profitability of slave ownership, advising him to put his money there to produce a 4% return per anum after considering losses (deaths) related to birth. He spoke of human rights when making the announcement but what he meant as he told Washington was that breeders should produce a child every two years to maintain profits.

Patrick Henry, who owned almost as many slaves as Jefferson who owned 600 during his lifetime, at least acknowledged it was the convenience of slavery which caused him to refuse to rid himself of slaves that contributed so much to his well being.

Certainly there were founders that were better than others, but they were the ones that compromised to allow slavery to continue in the first place. John Adams was an example one might look up to, but the Adams household in London was Sally Hemings first stop (along with Jefferson's daughter) on her way to meet Jefferson in Paris. Abigail Adams used slave labor in the President's House because they were more reliable.

My personal favorite (being serious here) is John Jay, who freed most of his slaves during his lifetime and made way for eliminating slavery in New York. As the first Chief Justice, he did nothing to end enslavement, probably because most of the other members were slave owners like 12 of the first 18 Presidents.

It isn't I who spins history, your beliefs have come to you honestly because it's what is taught in the history books. George Washington never told a lie either.

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William Spivey
William Spivey

Written by William Spivey

I write about politics, history, education, and race. Follow me at williamfspivey.com and support me at https://ko-fi.com/williamfspivey0680

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