THE KEY FOR RACIAL AND CLASS HARMONY IN MODERN AMERICA

A conversation between CNN host, Don Lemon, and British royalty expert, Hilary Fordwich, has gone viral after Fordwich turned the tables on Lemon’s question about royal reparations for slavery by pointing out that Great Britain fought to end slavery when it was still be practiced in Africa, the Middle East, and most of the world.

Her brilliant answer demonstrated that assigning social blame for slavery and other past sins is no simple task. Slavery has been practiced by many peoples and civilizations for all of recorded history. The unique characteristic of slavery in Great Britain and America was the moral outrage that arose against it and eventually led to its elimination.

Slavery Not Unique to America

Indeed, slavery had long been practiced in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and most of the world when it was introduced to America in the 17th century, where it encountered fierce opposition. The noted Black scholar, Dr. Thomas Sowell, has written of this, saying,

Slavery was just not an issue, not even among intellectuals, much less among political leaders, until the 18th century–and then it was an issue only in Western civilization. Among those who turned against slavery in the 18th century were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and other American leaders. You could research all of 18th century Africa or Asia or the Middle East without finding any comparable rejection of slavery there (Hyatt, Abolitionist Founding Fathers, 9).

This turn against slavery was the fruit of a powerful anti-slavery movement that emerged out of the Great Awakening that transformed Colonial America, beginning in 1726. After 1750, these Awakening evangelists not only called sinners to Christ, but also proclaimed the sinfulness and evil nature of slavery.

America’s Founders Turn Against Slavery

So powerful was this abolition movement that by 1770, America’s Founders, even those who owned slaves, had begun taking public stands against slavery. By the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, virtually every Founder agreed with John Adams who said,

Every measure of prudence ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. I have throughout my whole life held the practice of slavery in abhorrence (Hyatt, 1726: The Year that Defined America, 101).

This turn against slavery was expressed in the founding documents they formulated, which contain no classifications based or race or skin color. Neither are the words “slave” and “slavery” anywhere to be found therein. Indeed, America’s founding generation understood the founding documents to be statements against slavery and abolitionists used them in their fight against that horrible institution.

The Founders believed that they had set the new nation on a course for the soon and complete elimination of slavery. They did not, however, anticipate the invention of the cotton gin nor that following generations would not follow through on the course they had laid out.

Those who have carefully studied history understand that slavery, Jim Crow, and racial segregation were not the vision of America’s founding fathers. Frederick Douglass, perhaps the greatest of the abolitionists, understood this.

Frederick Douglass Lauded America’s Founders

Douglas (1818–1895) lauded America’s founding documents in a July 4^th speech in 1852. He referred to the U.S. Constitution as “a glorious liberty document” and praised the Declaration of Independence, saying,

The principles obtained in the Declaration of Independence are saving principles. Stand by those principles. Be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, whatever the cost.

He also spoke highly of America’s Founding Fathers, saying,

Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too—great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men (Hyatt, Abolitionist FoundingFathers, 52).

We Need to Revisit Our Origins

The answer for class, political, and racial division in America today is not another government program or handout. There must be a return to the God of our founders, who turned to Him in their times of need. That is why there were at least 15 days of prayer and fasting proclaimed by the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War. It is why one of the most iconic paintings of that war is of George Washington on his knees in prayer.

It is why, in the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a day of humiliation, prayer, and fasting in which he called on the nation to repent for personal and national sins and cry out to God for mercy. After this day of repentance and prayer there was an immediate change in the direction of the war. It soon ended, the slaves, were free, and the Union was preserved.

God has not changed and if He can find a core, remnant people who will fulfill the conditions of II Chronicles 7:14, there is no question that He will visit this land with another Great Awakening that will probably outshine all those that have gone before.

This article is derived from books by Dr. Eddie Hyatt entitled, Abolitionist Founding Fathers and 1726: The Year that Defined America, available from Amazon and his website at http://eddiehyatt.com.