Black History Month: Debunking the 10 biggest myths about black history
OPINION - Here at theGrio, we thought we'd kick off February the right way by debunking the 10 biggest myths about Black History Month...
8. The founding fathers worked to end slavery (according to Michele Bachmann) or were opposed to slavery
In a bold act of historical revisionism, former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann declared that the founding fathers worked “tirelessly” to end slavery. During the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, the founding fathers included the Three-Fifths Compromise into the U.S. Constitution, which allowed Southern states to count three-fifths of their slave population for the purposes of representation and taxes. 25 of the 55 delegates at the convention — nearly half — owned slaves. Of course, these slaves had no rights and were unable to vote.
While some in the Tea Party members want to rewrite history to be nicer to the founders, the fact remains that many of these founders owned slaves. Twelve presidents owned slaves, 8 of them while serving in office. For example, George Washington owned over 200 slaves, Thomas Jefferson owned over 100 and fathered children with his slave, and James Monroe owned up to 40. James Madison and Ben Franklin had them as well, though the latter freed his slaves and then fought against the institution. It is hard to imagine someone fighting against slavery while they kept people kidnapped and chained in their backyard, but anything is possible, right?
