but for a full picture one ought to consider his views of the rights and prerogatives of the common man, without forgetting his definition of 'man' was wrong.
This has more than historical interest, in my view. Presuming a certain notion about class to prevail among a racially-delimited group, changes in the racial definition could mean extension of the class idea to a broader group.
If we stipulate that all men are created equal but our definition of "all men" is altered subsequently, the 'created equal' part gains wider currency. This has in fact occurred, albeit in fits and starts, for the past 200 years. Anybody who thinks the idea of 'equal protection under the law' has no importance doesn't know much.
mbs
> Charles Brown wrote:
>
> >CB: Have we had anybody in Virginia close to our side since Thomas
Jefferson ?
>
> The anti-urban slaveholder/individualist? How, except in the fevered
> fantasies of the CPUSA, is he on "our" side?
>
> Doug
========
For an outline of Jefferson's back of the envelope style accountings
on the depreciation costs of a slave see Garry Wills' "Inventing
America" pages 145-148, have a trash can or barf bag handy.
Ian