Our first selection, a short article by the
JMU editor, discusses the apparent hypocrisy of a Virginia elite
fighting for liberty yet brutally suppressing any slave revolt.
The second and third selections are both letters
written by James Madison during his retirement. One is questions
and answers about slavery revealing that even Madison had his
prejudices. The other presents Madison's plan for the gradual
emancipation of the slaves, to be financed by the sale of federal
lands.
The final selection is a letter to the editor
from Benjamin Franklin writing under the pseudonym, Historicus.
Franklin personifies the changing attitudes of the North. Once
an owner of a slave, in his old age he turns his wit againts
slavery.
James
Madison, the Virginia Elite, and Slavery
Questions
and Answers on Slavery by James Madison
Plan
for the Emancipation of the Slaves by James Madison
On
the Slave-Trade by Historicus
