Looking at the past. I wouldn’t call myself a historian by any stretch of the imagination. Historians attempt to explain everything. They often delve into the socio-economic and politician climates of the times they are studying. Depending upon how distant that past is the sources will vary greatly. Generally speaking whatever tomes exist regarding the time period being studied where written by educated men, those with training and an awareness of the past. But, as for me, I write about the past as a casual observer, no formal education and training, nothing to slant my view. We are taught if it was taught in school or university by a professor it must be the truth. Well, I question that.

I tend to look at the past and put it into context. The past is just the stories of what people have done. People haven’t changed all that much over time, their motivations remain pretty much the same. People just want to be safe, be healthy and enjoy wealth as much as possible. Yeah, we call that being happy, the pursuit of happiness. We oppose the things that inhibit that pursuit, and embrace the things that contribute. I am not offended by the past, nor do I feel like anything in the past is my responsibility, unless I am the one that created that past.

Life is a compromise. The truth is so are nations. Either individually or collectively a compromise has to be reached in every situation. On an individual basis it is our morality that guides our choices. We make compromises with our morality all the time. A nation reflects the collective morality. A great deal of compromises were made when writing that document, the US constitution, establishing a form of government that would be acceptable to everyone wasn’t an easy task. That’s the reason for the “amendments” to that document. Adjustments were made when the people would accept that agreement. That was included under Article V in that document. Yeah, they knew things would have to be changed, adjusted a bit every now and again, later.

Consider history as it was lived by the average man and view it from that perspective. We were told no taxation without representation, and it was the driving force behind the American revolution. Just who do you think where the ones upset by that? I mean upset to the point of wanting to go to war over it? Was it the common man, the everyday farmer or tradesman. No, I don’t think so. It was the business owners that were really upset. Of course being the wealthy, educated and elite people that they were, they influenced the peasants. Well, maybe not influenced as much as controlled. Damn, like it or not we need the rich folks to buy our goods, lend us money and enforce law and order. If they are upset, we should be upset!

No where in the constitution is slavery mentioned. Not one word or line about that. Instead compromises were written into that document to protect the financial interests of those holding slaves. The 3/5ths clause is a great example of that. It was a compromise, enslaved people could be counted as 3/5ths of a person in establishing congressional representation. It was just a way to keep those holding slaves from buying representation on a one on one deal. In article one they prevented anyone from purchasing enslaved people after the year 1808. Article V said there could be no amendment passed prior to 1808 that would change that.

In 1807 Jefferson signed a bill prohibiting the trade of enslaved people effective 1 Jan 1808. It took a civil war to reach the final goal, the abolishment of slavery altogether. It took another 57 years before three more amendments were added to the constitution ensuring that “all men are created equal” as we had declared prior to the revolution and the writing of the constitution. A series of compromises.

All of that really had little to do with color, but a lot to do with class. It is the way of the world and will continue that way unabated throughout man’s existence on this planet. It continues today, no doubt about that. Today we use social media platforms as weapons. In the past it was newspapers. You had those papers of “prestige” like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal” whose journalist integrity wasn’t questioned. That certainly isn’t the case today. Today, in my estimation, we have no platform of integrity at all! It’s just business. Well, the truth is, it has always been about business. That’s what history is.

What are you supposed to be upset about today? Remember when it was the coronavirus? Today it is about securing election integrity. Why, it’s nothing more than a poll tax and designed to marginalize women and poor people! You should be very upset by that, protest, form committees and groups to combat that. And don’t forget, it will only hurt the children, my God, it’s the children who will suffer.