When the Homily is about Immunology

Slavery in the Land of the Free

Tomas Sowell has a fascinating little op-ed today, HERE.

I like it because I have certainly heard (over and over and over again) about how our nation's success is one built upon the backs of slaves and other imperialistic atrocities. We really don't hear enough about the good old fashioned hard work, in which so many of our ancestors (being decidedly slaveless) engaged themselves. He also points out a much forgotten fact that more white slaves found their way into North Africa and the Middle East and did black slaves find their way into the pre-civil war United States. Also, in much of the Middle East, slavery was not made illegal until well into the 20th century and may yet still be found practiced. Apparently the masses of european slaves was unable to vault the region into prominence as it is supposed the slaves of the United States did.

And also, while we may argue over the finer points, slavery ended here in the United States via one of the bloodiest wars in history. A fratricidal war and for our "sins", some six hundred and twenty thousand Americans gave their lives. More than 1/4 of all southern men died in those 4 years, and most of their major cities were laid waste. In 19th century dollars the cost was estimated to be over 6 billion dollars and doesn't include the cost over the years to follow for veteran's benefits and rebuilding the south. Inflation during and after the war was horrific and the value of the American dollar plummeted, at one point the US dollar was equal to 38 cents of gold. The whole affair can be seen as nothing less than a tremendous cost by all possible means of calculation. One can righfully argue that ANY benefit brought to the US by slavery was effectively wiped out and some via the Civil War.

So, I suggest, along with Thomas Sowell, that we can surely still retain the moniker of "Land of the Free"