Conversation at the chow hall...

[skb12172]

this time there'd be no Benedict Arnold

There'll always be a Benedict Arnold, metaphorically speaking. It's just in some peoples nature.

Agreed.

[Aesop]

this time there'd be no Benedict Arnold

There'll always be a Benedict Arnold, metaphorically speaking. It's just in some peoples nature.

Perhaps. But having learned from the experience, Washington wouldn't be taken in the second time around.

[dfwmtx]

MSNBC would label George Washington as a anti-government, drug-using racist 1%er before he could leave the building.

[Aesop]

Hell, they do that now.

[JAG2955]

I really kind of think that Franklin would be overwhelmed by knowledge and having it all at his fingertips by way of computers. Of course, I think that he'd also find the developments in women/their clothing/porn to take up most of his time. In between bouts of hookers and libraries, he may find time to teach, write, or invent something. It would probably make the greatest reality TV ever.

As for Washington, I imagine buying him a sandwich and have to explain how the 6.75% tax pays for some fat lady two checkout lanes over with an EBT card. I think that he'd keel over right there.

[dfwmtx]

I can almost picture Ben Franklin on a websurfing bender, vacilitating between porn and Wikipedia.

As for George, I think he'd be calling for another revolution after seeing how much we pay in taxes.

To expand the question, what would we think of Thomas Jefferson coming through the time portal to now?

[Jericho941]

To expand the question, what would we think of Thomas Jefferson coming through the time portal to now?

"Care to explain the slave shenanigans, Mister 'All Men are Created Equal'?"

[Aglifter]

Actually both he and GW lobbied to have slavery eliminated in the US, but Calhoun was adamant that SC would not join wo slavery - it really was a poor economic system, aside from the tragic human effects.

GW freed them in his will, as I recall - not sure what TJ did.

[Jericho941]

Not quite. Jefferson was demonstrably opposed to international slave trade, but didn't push for a change in domestic policy. Besides, banning something you think is bad for other people to do, but have no intention of ceasing the practice yourself, is kiiiiinda... "liberal." And not what they call "Jeffersonian Liberal" these days. He feared a slave revolt; any mass emancipation effort would come hand-in-hand with mass deportation, in his eyes. In any case, when he died his slaves were sold to pay his debts, not freed.

Washington's situation with his slaves was a great deal more complicated, but he was too much (or smart, if you prefer) of a politician to publicly oppose slavery, and kept up appearances long after quietly voicing misgivings, to avoid ruffling Southern feathers. Even the posthumous emancipation deal was tied up with complications, and Martha Washington only freed the slaves that explicitly belonged to her husband, a year after they were all supposed to be freed. Only one, his personal valet, was immediately freed.

Between the two... IMO, Jefferson knew what he was doing was wrong, but as a highly intelligent man, he was able to rationalize his misgivings away. Washington, on the other hand, became more honestly opposed to it as time went on, but due to local laws, politics, and his own family's maneuverings, felt that freeing his slaves posthumously was his only option to free them at all.

[Aesop]

Actually both he and GW lobbied to have slavery eliminated in the US, but Calhoun was adamant that SC would not join wo slavery - it really was a poor economic system, aside from the tragic human effects.

GW freed them in his will, as I recall - not sure what TJ did.

As he was 6 when South Carolina was admitted to the Union in 1788, I doubt John C. Calhoun had much to do with the discussions.
Being not yet born for another 6 years in 1776, his input on the Declaration of Independence was certainly even less substantive.

At the Constitutional Convention of 55 men, "of the 25 who owned slaves, 16 depended on slave labor to run the plantations or other businesses that formed the mainstay of their income" according to Wikipedia's sources, including the entire delegations from VA and SC.