Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Wait, What? Was Patrick Henry a Good Guy or a Bad Guy?

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by

James A. Bacon
in ,

Patrick Henry

by James A. Bacon

Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing in the Northam administration? On the one hand (as recounted on this blog), the State Board for Community Colleges has ordered the Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) in Martinsville to change its name. Henry, once revered as a founding father, is now problematic. He owned slaves. The PHCC board is resisting the name change, and the dispute is ongoing.

Meanwhile, nine days ago, Governor Ralph Northam issued a proclamation declaring June 29th as “Patrick Henry Day.”

The proclamation cited Henry’s rise to prominence through self study and oratory, his distinguished record as a lawyer and statesman, his participation in the Continental Congress, his immortal words of “Give me liberty or give me death,” his role in drafting Virginia’s first state constitution, and his service as Virginia’s first governor after independence.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s fabulous that Northam recognizes the contributions that Henry made to the founding of this nation. And I find it remarkable that the proclamation wasn’t asterisked with the observation that he was a slave holder. His ownership of slaves is important context when we render historical judgment but we don’t need to list a person’s failings when doing him or her honor. Someone in the bowels of the administration deserves credit for penning the proclamation and getting Northam to sign it.

I can’t help but wonder if Northam experienced cognitive dissonance when applying his signature: Hmmm, I’m signing this proclamation honoring Patrick Henry… yet my administration is dishonoring him by forcing the community college named for him to change its name. What gives?

Whatever Northam may or may not have been thinking, I would suggest that someone forward a copy of the proclamation to the State Board for Community Colleges.

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Comments

24 responses to “Wait, What? Was Patrick Henry a Good Guy or a Bad Guy?”

  1. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Yeah, but the dude did build a nice shopping mall. Sadly, like all things, malls are passe.

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Come on, Jim. You are asking for consistency.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      Only a fool seeks consistency in the halls of the General Assembly.

  3. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    “…Was Patrick Henry a Good Guy or a Bad Guy?”

    Yes.

  4. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    “…Was Patrick Henry a Good Guy or a Bad Guy?”

    Yes.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Indeed.

    2. Matt Adams Avatar
      Matt Adams

      Complexities of humankind.

      Are some inherently evil without redeeming qualities, yep you betcha. However, they are an exception not the rule.

  5. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Maybe poor choice of words in that preamble, though;

    ” St. John’s Church, Richmond, Virginia
    MARCH 23, 1775
    MR. PRESIDENT: No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country.

    For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate.

    It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Freedom or what?

      Freedom for me, but thee get thine own.

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        odd how the Founding Fathers taught about freedom but still owned slaves… how to reconcile…

        No surprise that generational descendants of slaves have different perspectives than those who are not – and that not all of us can understand or acknowledge. Some day, perhaps, after all we are America.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          There are two things you need for a successful revolution.
          1) the force to overthrow the king, and
          2) the guile to silence the pulpits.

          You don’t know how close Jan 6 came. Two was a done deal.

        2. Scott McPhail Avatar
          Scott McPhail

          “odd how the Founding Fathers taught about freedom but still owned slaves… how to reconcile…”

          Odd how people always speak of this but very rarely mention this when speaking of the Classical Greeks, an important inspiration for the Founding Fathers.

          The Classical Greek world was also filled with concerns over liberty and democracy and the function of the state . . . and was a world of slave trading and industrial and domestic slavery. Periclean Athens probably had a higher percentage of the enslaved than Ante-bellum Richmond.

          Yet the Greek are rarely called out for it, while the Founding Fathers who actually confronted the issue are today constantly condemned.

        3. Scott McPhail Avatar
          Scott McPhail

          “odd how the Founding Fathers taught about freedom but still owned slaves… how to reconcile…”

          Odd how people always speak of this but very rarely mention this when speaking of the Classical Greeks, an important inspiration for the Founding Fathers.

          The Classical Greek world was also filled with concerns over liberty and democracy and the function of the state . . . and was a world of slave trading and industrial and domestic slavery. Periclean Athens probably had a higher percentage of the enslaved than Ante-bellum Richmond.

          Yet the Greek are rarely called out for it, while the Founding Fathers who actually confronted the issue are today constantly condemned.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            Indeed but post Greek was England and the King and then America which rebelled over “freedom”, no?

            Was America supposed to be the next level up from Greece, and medieval times, colonialism or not?

            We’re comparing what the Founding Fathers espoused to even worse treatment of people in Greece? Lordy!

            Silly me, I though when they said “All men created equal” – ..well more specifically:

            ” “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

            that they really did mean ALL men (and women)!

            No?

            So they actually meant only SOME men and not women either?

            That’s the Constitution some folks keep citing for their “freedom”?

          2. WayneS Avatar
            WayneS

            “That’s the Constitution some folks keep citing for their “freedom”?”

            The answer is no, that is not “the Constitution some folks keep citing for their “freedom”.

            The Constitution I cite is the one which was amended to correct the major mistake contained in the original.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            not those words they cite?

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Why not rail against the slavery that still exists instead of denigrating 300 year old men who pledged life, liberty and and sacred honor to create a nation (where you live) dedicated to freedom though none existed at the time even for themselves.
    Can’t you guys talk about the GREATness of America instead of stupidly rehashing and refighting perceived injustice from centuries earlier. There has been slavery since the first caveman bullied his neighbor to give him the mastodon or Cain murdered Able if you prefer.
    Fix the slavery in your own time before you complain about the slavery in someone elses’ time.

    PS Northam is a putz who couldn’t tell us if he was in Blackface or a KKK robe so what do you expect.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      Maybe miss the point. It’s not about whether or not the scourge of slavery existed and exists in the world, it’s what the promise of America was supposed to be , different from the rest of the world. Do we not believe our own words?

      1. David Avatar
        David

        I tried to address this in the middle of the reply; The coalition that had to be cobbled together to oppose the greatest empire the world had known up to that time was fractious and tenuous to put it mildly. States that had economies tied to cheap available labor, and had strong ties to GB, had to be brought into the union for it to have any chance to succeed. The issue was hotly debated in just the terms you put forward but taking into account that slavery had been the way of the world since before Babylon and was a major component of the economy of the entire globe it is kind of understandable that it transferred, amid strong debate, to the freest, newest, soon to be, nation conceived in liberty with an implicit promise to make itself into the embodiment of freedom for all. A promise that cost 600,000 lives to resolve. Hard feelings on both sides persist until today, as they do in Ireland, but there isn’t a Globalist inspired ‘Catholic Lives Matter’ organization trying to tear their nation apart.
        I hope that clears up my point.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          Yep, familiar with US History but you sorta give yourself away at : “Globalist inspired ‘Catholic Lives Matter’ organization trying to tear their nation apart”

          as if they don’t care as much about the promise of America than you might.

          no?

          We still have problems despite our progress and you don’t need to look far to see the White Nationalist groups very much in evidence and some might say they are the ones tearing apart… not to mention the yahoos bellowing about woke, equity and CRT.

          https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2020/07/21111319/MAGA-Confederate-FlagGettyImages-1256385102-scaled.jpg

          1. David Avatar
            David

            If you decide someone who waves a rebel flag is a white nationalist, then yes, they are behind every tree and probably under your bed. It is not a symbol of hate but of heritage and attitude. The Union defeated the Confederacy but really we just decided the primacy between an Industrial society and an Agrarian one. With the advent of the steam engine and the cotton gin slaveries days were numbered in the US but I give Mr. Lincoln credit for hastening its demise.

            And I didn’t ‘give myself away’ Larry, because I am not hiding the ball. I am an unabashedly proud American who realizes that there is still hate in peoples hearts, along with envy, greed, sloth and several other bad things, comes with the territory, but if you are waiting for some piece of legislation or government program to fix it I am afraid you are fatally deluded and should just go ahead and get a CRT tattoo and be done with it, you are Communist at heart and probably a product of a fine modern education.

            Jesus said no one is perfect except the Father which brings me back to Catholic lives matter, I couldn’t decide between Catholic or Protestant but the important take away should have been ‘Globalist inspired’ and ‘blank Matters. It is perpetual war that divides man along lines either real or imagined that promotes hate. Satan does care who does the hating as long as the hating gets done, and pitting one group against another is the promotion of hate.

            Globalism signifies a world view in which America is just another country in a world that is almost entirely socialist and headed towards communism at breakneck speed.

            Quoting William Buckley “Conservatives stand athwart history yelling stop” this in response to the ever increasing power of government to the degradation of individual freedom.

            I stand with him.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            David – the verdict is in for the Confederate Flag and you will find precious few black folks that agree it’s about “heritage”.

            I did not “decide” it – the world has , virtually everyone but racists and apologists for racism. The “heritage” is a joke and an insult to true heritage IMHO.

            When you carry that flag, you’re sending a message to black folks and the appearance of white nationalists in place like Charlottesville make no bones about it.

            Not surprised you are citing “JEsus” either, it’s part and parcel of the hard right theses days along with all the foolishness about “socialism”.

            THe most free countries in the world with the most robust and vibrant economies, highest literacy and life expectancy are the developed countries, the ones that are often called “socialist”.

            Finally, since you praise Buckley, you might want to learn more about his attitudes with respect to race and discrimination, i.e. “Liberty” for black folks

            https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/13/william-f-buckley-civil-rights-215129/

          3. David Avatar
            David

            When are you lefties going to quit demanding everyone see the world through your particular lens. There is no verdict, there is no consensus, you have not talked to any black conservatives in fact I would bet you overlaid your beliefs on black people in general and went to print.

            I site Jesus the same way I site Aristotle, from my understanding and scholarship, not from any political leaning.

            You may take historical events and try to perfect the present by destroying and reinterpreting history but I do not allow you to memory hole the past in an attempt to control the present. There are good and honorable people who believe in the part of that flag that stands for limited government and self determination. As I tried to impart to you before, slavery as a viable economic model was passing from the west, Mr. Lincoln, far from being a staunch abolitionist was a political animal who saw the Northern Banks as the power center he wanted the backing of.

            You, while displaying a hateful misunderstanding of this symbol of the Confederacy and therefore slavery in this country, an anachronistic hold over from our European roots, fail to address, even cursorily, the actuality of modern day slavery all over the world.

            To you Sir… remove the plank from your own eye before you try sticking your finger in mine.

          4. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            David – the verdict is in for the Confederate Flag and you will find precious few black folks that agree it’s about “heritage”.

            I did not “decide” it – the world has , virtually everyone but racists and apologists for racism. The “heritage” is a joke and an insult to true heritage IMHO.

            When you carry that flag, you’re sending a message to black folks and the appearance of white nationalists in place like Charlottesville make no bones about it.

            Not surprised you are citing “JEsus” either, it’s part and parcel of the hard right theses days along with all the foolishness about “socialism”.

            THe most free countries in the world with the most robust and vibrant economies, highest literacy and life expectancy are the developed countries, the ones that are often called “socialist”.

            Finally, since you praise Buckley, you might want to learn more about his attitudes with respect to race and discrimination, i.e. “Liberty” for black folks

            https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/13/william-f-buckley-civil-rights-215129/

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