[ExI] Liberals and Political Labels (was History of Slavery)

[gts]

Lee Corbin wrote:

>> The points I was making were that 1) abolitionism is fundamentally a
>> liberal idea in both senses of the word "liberal" (even despite Lincoln
>> and the word's association in the US with the Republican party of the  
>> 19th century), and that 2) the Torys were not liberals in either sense  
>> of the
>> word, at least with respect to slavery.
>
> I agree.

Well then, we agree. :)

>> If anyone deserves credit for freeing the slaves, I'd say it was the
>> political liberals and the Quakers.
>
> Yes.  It's the same "mentality", if you will.

Yes, the same mentality. Abolitionism has a 'liberal flavor', even though  
the meaning of the word liberal has changed over time.

Interesting about the progressives, and thanks for your generally  
interesting post.

This is a bit off-topic, but do you by any chance have access to reliable  
data about wealth distribution in the US from the mid or late 19th century  
to the present? I'm interested in looking at wealth distribution in  
relation to various forms of 'progressive' taxation, especially the estate  
tax.

At present I happen to oppose the idea of repealing the estate tax, in  
case that is a subject you would like to discuss. (I would guess that you  
might disagree with me here.)

-gts