Quote · Empire: World History
374. Ken Burns on the American Revolution and Empire
Where this was said
The Liberty Talk Is Leaky — Slavery and the Founding
At 18:03 · chapter starts 17:40
The founding hypocrisy is familiar territory, but Burns finds a sharper frame for it. [1] — Ken Burns "When Founders argued the British had 'enslaved' them through tyranny, they were signalling something to the people literally serving them i…" 17:40 When Founders argued that British tyranny had 'enslaved' them, they were making that argument in rooms served by people who were literally enslaved. The signal, intentional or not, was received loud and clear. Harvard historian (and now head of Monticello) Jane Kaminsky gives Burns his sharpest line: 'the liberty talk is leaky.' Nobody wanted to be a subject. Nobody wanted to be enslaved. Women, free and enslaved Black Americans, Native Americans — all heard the Declaration's language and immediately understood it applied to them too. The great hypocrisy is not that this happened, Burns implies, but that the Founders were surprised when it did.
When Founders argued the British had 'enslaved' them through tyranny, they were signalling something to the people literally serving them in the room. Historian Jane Kaminsky calls it perfectly: 'the liberty talk is leaky.' Everyone heard it. Everyone wanted it. Of course they did.
