Journalism might be the first draft of history, but University of Rochester historian Thomas P. Slaughter uses the lens of history to provide some interesting insights into the present on issues of race and fairness of taxation. Take a look at the my story in the Democrat and Chronicle on how Slaughter seeks understanding rather than sound bites. His new book, Independence: The Tangled Roots of the American Revolution, details how the the break with the British has a long history that culminated when the British - deep in debt and trying to support its empire - imposed taxes on the colonies that provoked the Tea Party and rebellion. In researching an earlier book, Bloody Dawn: The Christiana Riot and Racial Violence in the Antebellum North, Slaughter reviewed more than 100 years of court records in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and found African-Americans were more likely to be prosecuted, convicted and get longer sentences than whites for similar activity. That not only has relevance in explaining the revolt in 1851 in that county against enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, but also is important in understanding some of the mistrust of the criminal justice system today. democratandchronicle/story/news/2015/01/03/university-rochesterthomas-slaughter-seward-history/21231955/
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 21:19:28 +0000
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