Those Who Harshly Judge Humans of the Past Deserve to be Harshly Judged
The temptation of 'presentism' in studying history
In contemporary times, to praise the British Empire can be viewed as pro-colonialism. To describe founding fathers as heroes, to revere US Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson without acknowledging their racial prejudice and moral blindness can be seen as “insensitive” at best and racist at …
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