Bacon’s little essay, “Of Empire,” (originally from 1612) is really an essay on the monarchic, art of governing, that is, Machiavelli’s subject in The Prince. Here, “Of Empire” really means “Of Personal Dominion.” (The essay is not on empire in the sense I was interested in.) And, not unlike Machiavelli, Bacon’s real subject is the new prince. Bacon’s essay is not very long, and it might have been titled, ‘be careful what you wish for.’ Most of the advice can be summarized as ‘be prudent!’
The view that "of course, everyone at the time supported slavery" is central to a relativist position which underlies, for example, most critiques of the 1619 project. Once you recognise the existence of widely published criticism of slavery, and the fact that none of the places in question had democratic governments, you're left with "of course, most of the powerful people at the time supported slavery"
The view that "of course, everyone at the time supported slavery" is central to a relativist position which underlies, for example, most critiques of the 1619 project. Once you recognise the existence of widely published criticism of slavery, and the fact that none of the places in question had democratic governments, you're left with "of course, most of the powerful people at the time supported slavery"
Yes, and often even among elites there were non-trivial debates.