Before the Civil War slave ownership was not as widespread as folks seem to think it was. Reparations is a truly bad idea that should be scrapped.
At the time, there were 33 states in the Union, 15 were slave states and 18 were free states. Looking just at the slave states then, there were 393,975 slave owners in the slave states out of a population of 12,240,293. So this means that 3.22 percent of the population of the 15 slave states were slave owners.
I have been doing a lot of ancestry research over the last 10 years and to date have found not a single ancestor that owned any slaves. Most of my pre-Civil War ancestors lived in free states and had done so since 1638 (CT). My paternal ancestors settled in MA, NY, PA NJ and Del. My earliest maternal ancestors were the first group to settle Germantown (Mennonites) and stayed almost exclusively in PA.
The free states were much wealthier than the slave states and made their money in industries like fishing, textiles, metals, guns.
I have 3 ancestors that fought in the French & Indian War and at last count 29 that served during the Revolution.
It's interesting to hear people talk about slavery when they are badly misinformed on the subject.
At the time, there were 33 states in the Union, 15 were slave states and 18 were free states. Looking just at the slave states then, there were 393,975 slave owners in the slave states out of a population of 12,240,293. So this means that 3.22 percent of the population of the 15 slave states were slave owners.
I have been doing a lot of ancestry research over the last 10 years and to date have found not a single ancestor that owned any slaves. Most of my pre-Civil War ancestors lived in free states and had done so since 1638 (CT). My paternal ancestors settled in MA, NY, PA NJ and Del. My earliest maternal ancestors were the first group to settle Germantown (Mennonites) and stayed almost exclusively in PA.
The free states were much wealthier than the slave states and made their money in industries like fishing, textiles, metals, guns.
I have 3 ancestors that fought in the French & Indian War and at last count 29 that served during the Revolution.
It's interesting to hear people talk about slavery when they are badly misinformed on the subject.
