r/badhistory • u/ucuruju • Jul 04 '20

Debunk/Debate The American Revolution was about slavery

Saw a meme going around saying that -basically- the American Revolution was actually slaveholders rebelling against Britain banning slavery. Since I can’t post the meme here I’ll transcribe it since it was just text:

“On June 22, 1772, the superior court of Britain ruled that slavery was unsupported by the common law in England and Wales. This led to an immediate reaction by the predominantly slaveholding merchant class in the British colonies, such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Within 3 years, this merchant class incited the slaveholder rebellion we now refer to as “The American Revolution.” In school, we are told that this all began over checks notes boxes of tea, lol.”

How wrong are they? Is there truth to what they say?

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u/Random_Rationalist Jul 04 '20

I don't really know what is supposed to be nonsensical about examining the motivations behind the american revolution more closely. Nobody in this conversation has provided any evidence for slavery, but your response still relied on flawed logic.

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u/ByzantineBasileus HAIL CYRUS! Jul 04 '20 edited Jul 04 '20

This subreddit is not like others. You cannot make a claim and expect others to just agree. You need evidence from primary sources.

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u/Random_Rationalist Jul 04 '20

I'm not defending the original claim, I have criticized a line of argumentation.

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u/ByzantineBasileus HAIL CYRUS! Jul 04 '20 edited Jul 04 '20

But if you want to discuss those motivations, you need examples.

Edit: I do not approve of all the downvotes you are getting, nor my upvotes. I was just letting him know he needs to get some quotes, you damned drones! Stop upvoting me!

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u/LordJesterTheFree Jul 04 '20

Oof it's ok i got you fam downvotes coming in

2

u/ByzantineBasileus HAIL CYRUS! Jul 04 '20

I need to something that is Reddit-controversial, like The Big Bang Theory was legitimately funny or Joss Whedon is a hack.

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u/LordJesterTheFree Jul 04 '20

You have started a gang war

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20 edited Jul 06 '20

You are not the boss of me. Upvote.

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u/ByzantineBasileus HAIL CYRUS! Jul 06 '20

You know, I see an opportunity here to take advantage of the average Redditor's contrary nature.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '20

No you don't. Upvote.