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William Farrar's avatar

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I would describe the loquaciousness of Jefferson as a silver pen not a silver tongue, When publicly speaking he was scarcely audible and couldn't find the words. To which I can relate for I am the same.

I might have mentioned this before but Jefferson's idea of Democracy did not include the middlings, as what we call the middle class today, the the property less laborer, craftsman,, the butcher the baker and the candle stick maker, these were not considered proper citizens by the founders and thus not consider as voters, and indeed the first two elections were limited to property owning men of all race,not that there were many property owning blacks,. NJ shut that door in 1807 though, and also shut the door to women.

Jefferson's democracy was the democracy of the landed, the property owner who had an investment in society..

He had attended the business meeting of a Baptist Church in Pittsylvania, Co, VA and what he s witnessed disabused him of the notion of Democracy for the middlings.

There was no word or concept for the middle class, not even in Marx time, he constructed a word the bourgeoisie ,for the middle class, and the bourgeoisie was the enemy of the working poor, the lower class, he let the upper class of financiers and textile mills off the hook, as he was funded by the League of Just Men, and his partner Frederick Engels had inherited a texite mill

Of that. Marx wrote letters chastising southern editors to fee the slaves and hire them back at Market wages. Motivated by his partner Fred who was force, if he want to make a profit, to buy the inferior but cheaper Egyptian cotton.

As owning slaves was more expensive than hiring them at market wages. First their was the capital investment, then there was upkeep and maintenance, proving living quarters, clothing, food, even entertainment and preachers on Sunday to give them word of Jesus, to obey your masters

And there were the slave patrols, err militia's, which he was obligated to finance and support,and of course housing the overseer and his family as well as paying his wages and seeing to the tutoring of the overseers kids.

All very expensive compared to just hiring labor at market wages. The planters were not too excited because the memory of the Nat Turner rebellion was fresh in their minds

If Jefferson had so little concern for the "middliings" then what would he have for the slaves?

To be trite, as the saying goes" s...t rolls downhill.

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