In 1776, the first draft of the Declaration of Independence protested that Britain’s supposedly “Christian king” had “waged a cruel war against human nature” and violated “sacred rights of life & liberty” by enslaving Africans.
Further, it said, slaves often suffered “miserable death” in transit to America and King George had suppressed every attempt “to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce.”
The Continental Congress quickly deleted this moralistic language from a slave owner, Thomas Jefferson.
Students of history are regularly rewarded with such surprises. They’ll discover this one and many more in the college textbook “Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People” (Eerdmans). The 10-year production from six historians and 50 consultants covers Indian life before Columbus through the 2004 election and war in Iraq.
