In his Feb. 1st column “Getting our history right”, Gil Smart starts off “The letter to the editor was about American history, something I know something about.” He then goes on to say “George Washington owned slaves. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, though he felt badly about it and ultimately freed them.”
WATCHDOG: Smart got the presidents reversed. The wealthy Washington freed the slaves he owned outright upon his death; Jefferson died with huge debts and his slaves were sold off, including his mixed race children.
There was a disconnect between what Jefferson philosophically stood for and how he lived his life, sometimes to his disgrace and at another time what made possible the Louisanna purchase!
Smart is right: Unless he made an editing mistake, he knows “something” about history, but apparently not much!
