Talk:Samuel Hopkins (theologian)

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There are mysterious individuals associated with the Wikipedia who have dedicated themselves to destroying every mention of the word "Negroes." Those mysterious individuals remove the proper word ("Negroes" and/or "colored") and insert the newly-created improper word ("black" or "black people") into articles such as this one.

When The Reverend Samuel Hopkins was alive, there were thousands upon thousands of mixed-race Negroes living in North America. It is a fact that many of their ancestors were Indians and Europeans, so they could not have been "black people."

A Negro who lived in the United States at the time of George Washington was called either a "free Negro" or a "slave." A "slave" was chattel property who was protected by his owner from harm and abuse like any other item or possession. A "slave" was required to do whatever his owner desired.

A"free Negro" was a very different sort of person, legally. A "free Negro" could work for himself and earn money which he could keep for himself. In other words, a "free Negro" could "amass a fortune" if he had the will and the energy to do so.

In some cases, a "slave" could work and save enough money to buy his freedom. Some slaves bought their freedom and thereby became "free Negroes." Other slaves became "free Negroes" when their owner gave them their freedom. In his will, George Washington (who died in 1799) freed his slaves. The slaves became "free Negroes" (not "black people").

Mysterious individuals are deceiving the readers of certain Wikipedia articles by inserting newly-created descriptives into those articles.

Slavery generated many mixed-race "colored" people in North America. Many of those people were cross-bred people who were the progeny of Indians.

Descended from an Indian, a mixed-race "free Negro" and a Quaker from Pennsylvania ("the Quaker State") named Paul Cuffey went to sea and caught fish which he sold. He was able to "amass a fortune" because, legally, he was a "free Negro." Paul Cuffey left the United States for Africa. He is associated with the early history of Sierre Leone (Sierra Leone).

Whomsoever readeth the articles in the Wikipedia should do so with reservations in mind. Some of the words are concoctions. Many deceivers place malarkey into certain Wikipedia articles. The deceivers seem to be engaging in a sport. The term "black people" was not invented in the United states until the 1960s or the 1970s.

(submitted on April 22, 2005 at 09:46Z)

Reflections on above

Well there's quite a bit there... My stance would be similar: however, there is an irony when as you remark on mysterious individuals your contribution was itself anonymous! (Although perhaps you did not realise so 141.158.108.82 - my account logged out overnight) Perhaps you could log in/create an account. The original change of Negro to Black American was made by Gazpacho.... Also the stuff on Paul Cuffey - wouldn't that all be better in an article in its own right? Though I suspect the correct spelling to be Paul Cuffee.

Cuffee it is

I have access to a small paragraph on Paul Cuffee (1759-1818).

"An American sea captain, half Indian, half negro, born neat New Bedford, Mass. He was a member of the Society of Friends and used his wealth, acquired at sea, in the effort to encourage the colonization of his people in Sierra Leone. He carried out 38 colonists on his own ship in 1815 and died while waiting for permission from England to make further settlements in the colony."

The paragraph is contained in a copyrighted book (of course), therefore, it cannot be re-used as originally written. More details are needed in order to compose a Wikipedia article on Paul Cuffee.

The reason why I am sensitive to the new descriptives such as "black people" is my age. I was already an adult when "The Civil Rights Act of 1957" was passed. I remember the United States of 1950 very well. There were no "Hispanics" in the United States in 1950. There were "Mexicans" and "Puerto Ricans" and "Cubans" and others, but no "Hispanics." (Other groups existed, too. "Poles," "Serbs," "Ukrainians," "Jews," "Russians," "Italians" or "Italian-Americans," and others).

A great amount of social engineering has taken place in the United States since 1950. Most of the people have been assigned new descriptives. "Colored" people are now called either "Blacks" or "African-Americans" even though these new terms were nearly or completely unknown in 1950. A boxing champion named Joe Louis said that he was more than forty years old before anyone called him a "Black."

Also, "Whites" is a new descriptive. White men and women were called Americans until the 1960s. After President Kennedy began the practice of employing the word "Blacks" in his briefings, people naturally began the use of the word "Whites."

I am too old to fret over the changes that I have seen. Still, I most dislike the re-arrangement of old history from the 1750-1950 span of time. People are taking newly-created descriptives and employing them to define people who had existed long ago. The effect of that is a re-writing of history. "Slaves" were called "property," not "black Americans."

The demise of the word "Negro" has been both precipitous and astonishing. "Negroes" had once existed in every State, but no longer.

Saturday, April 23rd, 2005, 13:20Z