Monday, January 19, 2009

Darwin's Abolitionist Fury and the American Civil War

"Some few, & I am one, even wish to God, though at the loss of millions of lives, that the North would proclaim a crusade against Slavery. In the long run, a million horrid deaths would be amply repaid in the cause of humanity...Great God how I shd like to see that greatest curse on Earth Slavery abolished."

- Charles Darwin, in correspondence with American naturalist Asa Gray


Happy MLKjr Day!

2 comments:

Jay said...

My brother came to me, as many misled children on the internet and elsewhere, under the mistaken impression that Darwin was an ardent racist who owned slaves. Oh how dreadfully effective the creationist smear campaign has been.

Dan said...

Wow, I didn't think he was a racist, but that is quite the abolitionist fervor he had. Few people of his time short of John Brown shared that sort of passion.