[Ads-l] "slave"

[Laurence Horn]

Thanks for the links.  Interesting from a linguistic as well as historical perspective.  My inclination (following Occam and his razor) is to go with what the Snopes entry calls 'the alternative theory — namely, that the word "hirelings" refers literally to mercenaries and "slaves" refers literally to slaves'.

LH

> On Aug 31, 2016, at 1:12 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> This piece has been widely circulated over the last few days:
> 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__theintercept.com_2016_08_28_colin-2Dkaepernick-2Dis-2Drighter-2Dthan-2Dyou-2Dknow-2Dthe-2Dnational-2Danthem-2Dis-2Da-2Dcelebration-2Dof-2Dslavery_&d=CwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=doc9dGQqKJg1Zl_ohGg_AfkpWLhzKY9Dta_hk46Jtnw&s=eC7sNNTGLgHI3dY7Dc8ToXCH3-RgP6ojKocgPBJy1s0&e= 
> 
> Snopes investigates:
> 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.snopes.com_2016_08_29_star-2Dspangled-2Dbanner-2Dand-2Dslavery_&d=CwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=doc9dGQqKJg1Zl_ohGg_AfkpWLhzKY9Dta_hk46Jtnw&s=eCwLMvlOjOuEOwfx_UIO9G-j_eXjBk3x4p07X2CAGDI&e= 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 12:37 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> I stand corrected.
>> 
>> I was too flabbergasted/dismayed/etc. to choose a more historically precise
>> term, something I'm pedantically inclined to do at all times.
>> 
>> Google shows that Blake is not alone in his belief.
>> 
>> 
>> On Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 11:57 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>>> On Aug 31, 2016, at 11:02 AM, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Sali,
>>>> 
>>>> Do you consider 1814, when "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written, as
>>> being during the colonial period of the US?  A very Anglo-philic stance,
>>> just what the British were still believing then?  :-)  I would say there
>>> were "enslaved African-Americans" in 1814.
>>>> 
>>>> Joel
>>> 
>>> Maybe it depends on whether to be an "X-American" you have to be an
>>> American citizens.  As late as the Dred Scott decision (1850s?) it was
>>> clear that legally slaves (or "enslaved persons") were not citizens, and
>>> thus perhaps on that basis were not (African-)Americans.  On the other
>>> hand, they would have been considered American slaves, where "American"
>> is
>>> more of a place name than nationality.  This is all pretty hindsighty, of
>>> course.
>>> 
>>> LH
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>     From: Salikoko S. Mufwene <s-mufwene at UCHICAGO.EDU>
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2016 9:51 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "slave"
>>>> 
>>>> Just a minor correction, JL. From a historical perspective, there were
>>>> enslaved Africans, not enslaved African Americans during the colonial
>>>> history of the US or of the 13 English colonies. During that time the
>>>> class of Americans was very restricted, even some Europeans did not
>>>> count as Americans.
>>>> 
>>>> Sali.
>>>> 
>>>> On 8/31/2016 7:06 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>>>> Former tennis star James Blake has explained to CNN that "The
>>> Star-Spangled
>>>>> Banner" is "a song that advocates the killing of slaves."
>>>>> 
>>>>> The "hireling and slave" in the song, of course, are not enslaved
>>>>> African-Americans but redcoats, Hessian mercenaries, and cringing
>>> Tories.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Proof? Read the lyrics.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Of course, as D----d T---p has demonstrated, words don't mean much
>>> anymore.
>>>>> 
>> 
> 
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