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Erik Root's book, Sons of the Fathers explores the Virginia Slavery
Debate of 1831 1832, conducted in the House of Delegates. This is
possibly the greatest debate to have occurred in any southern state
before the Civil War. The speeches in this book provide, for the
first time ever, an unedited version of that debate where many of
the sons of America's Founders deliberated over the necessity of
emancipating the slaves in Old Dominion. In August 1831, Nat Turner
led the most successful slave rebellion in America's history,
killing some 60 men, women, and children. This insurrection
provided the historical backdrop to the proposal for a gradual
emancipation plan. The forces for emancipation, led by Thomas
Jefferson's grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, were defeated in
the course of the debate as the members of the House of Delegates
rejected that it was a necessity to free the slaves. As a result,
rift between what is now Virginia and Western Virginia developed,
never to heal. Some in the debates believed slaves had the same
rights as every human being. Those who balked at emancipation
diminished slavery as an "evil" and came closer to the view that
the slaves were mere property. They affirmed that the slave was
property and rejected the natural rights grounding of the Founding.
In this collection of primary source material-which consists of the
speeches made public to the press and the people-the reader will be
able to decide just how close the emancipation forces attached
themselves to the "laws of Nature and Nature's God." The reader
will also be able to decipher how far many Virginians departed from
not only the Declaration of Independence, but the Virginia
Declaration of Rights.
VirginiaOs most prominent statesman had a profound influence on the
American Founding. Of the first five presidents elected, four of
them were Virginians. Old Dominion thus held an influential
position in the Union. The Founders held a reluctant tolerance of
slavery, yet every leading Founder believed that slavery was wrong.
They based this argument on the natural rights all men, all humans,
possessed. With a natural rights understanding of the American
Founding, it is an inescapable conclusion that slavery is a
violation of those rights. However, the Founders expressed their
distaste of the peculiar institution in different ways. All wrote
privately about their aversion of the institution, and some took
unmistakable public positions. Several also found ways to
demonstrate implicitly their opinion about slavery. Because of its
influential position, the political direction of Old Dominion was a
bellwether for the Union. During the 1829-1832, in two instances,
Virginians debated the future of slavery in their state. First, in
the Constitutional Convention in 1829-30 they debated the existence
of natural rights and whether those rights were a guide for
statesmanship. During this convention there was an attack on
natural rights that set the stage for the next great deliberation
over slavery. Second, they explicitly discussed ending slavery in
the House of Delegates after the Nat Turner insurrection in
1831-32. The Delegates of the day rejected the emancipation of the
slaves as a moral and political necessity. Virginians had the
opportunity to place slavery on the road to gradual extinction.
They had an opportunity to reaffirm the principles of liberty, but
ultimately that argument lost. The forces of self-interest defeated
those who articulated the principles of the Declaration of
Independence. This was solidified when Thomas Roderick Dew wrote
his review of the debates in the House of Delegates. As a result of
his arguments, the pro-slavery argument proceeded apace in Virginia
with Dew being instrumental in the development of the Opositive
goodO thesis.
Virginia's most prominent statesman had a profound influence on the
American Founding. Of the first five presidents elected, four of
them were Virginians. Old Dominion thus held an influential
position in the Union. The Founders held a reluctant tolerance of
slavery, yet every leading Founder believed that slavery was wrong.
They based this argument on the natural rights all men, all humans,
possessed. With a natural rights understanding of the American
Founding, it is an inescapable conclusion that slavery is a
violation of those rights. However, the Founders expressed their
distaste of the peculiar institution in different ways. All wrote
privately about their aversion of the institution, and some took
unmistakable public positions. Several also found ways to
demonstrate implicitly their opinion about slavery. Because of its
influential position, the political direction of Old Dominion was a
bellwether for the Union. During the 1829-1832, in two instances,
Virginians debated the future of slavery in their state. First, in
the Constitutional Convention in 1829-30 they debated the existence
of natural rights and whether those rights were a guide for
statesmanship. During this convention there was an attack on
natural rights that set the stage for the next great deliberation
over slavery. Second, they explicitly discussed ending slavery in
the House of Delegates after the Nat Turner insurrection in
1831-32. The Delegates of the day rejected the emancipation of the
slaves as a moral and political necessity. Virginians had the
opportunity to place slavery on the road to gradual extinction.
They had an opportunity to reaffirm the principles of liberty, but
ultimately that argument lost. The forces of self-interest defeated
those who articulated the principles of the Declaration of
Independence. This was solidified when Thomas Roderick Dew wrote
his review of the debates in the House of Delegates. As a result of
his arguments, the pro-slavery argument proceeded apace in Virginia
with Dew being instrument
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