Ron DeSantis' Long History of Minimizing Enslavement

In his own words.

In 2010, Ron DeSantis wrote Dreams from our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama. He edited it. He dedicated it to his wife, Casey. He paid to have it published. He then set out on a Tea Party Club book blitz throughout Florida, which he parlayed into a successful 2012 Congressional run. As the Democratic nominee that year, I attended several events with Ron. DeSantis volunteers sold his book in the lobby of every one of them; including our October debate.

Over the years, the DeSanti’ have joked that they spent more money on gas than they earned in book sales. That’s no doubt true. Still, that book is the foundation on which his political career and his core beliefs stand.

This week, the DeSantis Administration made headlines - again - for their willingness to put a positive spin on the trafficking, torture, and enslavement of human beings.

New Curriculum Standards Announced

First, the State Board of Education (the governing body for the Florida Department of Education made up of governor-appointed members) announced that Florida teachers must ensure that students understand that -

“slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit”

Florida Department of Education 2023 Social Studies Standards

As expected, the backlash was swift. GOP Presidential candidate Chris Christie weighed in. Vice President Kamala Harris rebuked the Governor on his home turf. Even GOP Congressman Byron Donalds levied criticism. And, of course, the historians were not playing.

Wasn’t Me.

In reaction, the Governor did some weird contortionist mash-up of “it wasn’t me” and “I don’t disagree.” The Governor’s remarks were quickly followed up by a flurry of memos and tweets by Florida Department of Education and Office of the Governor employees. I’ve already written extensively about the polarization of civil servants under the DeSantis Administration and I will return to it shortly but, for now, I point this out because it is counter to good governance.

But It Was Him. It Has Always Been Him.

Let’s revisit the words he wrote in 2010. The words he built his entire political persona on and the words that may very well be the reason his political aspirations are left in the “dustbin of history.”

Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Southern Economy

That Summer in Philly

Dred Scott & The Missouri Compromise

Chief Justice Roger Taney

Barack Obama’s “Thin Resume”

Barack Obama Said What? Where?

America’s “Darker Periods” Are Private

Criticism of the Constitution & Divine Providence

Expansion of the “Spirit of Liberty” Seriously Flawed

The End of Slavery is Evidence Enough

Ron DeSantis believes that if the Framers had done more to end enslavement, the Constitutional Convention would have failed. He believes that the Constitutional Amendment process and the Missouri Compromise are proof positive that the Framers envisioned an end to enslavement. He believes that the 3/5ths Compromise was better for the Union states and, without enslaved labor, the Confederate states would have collapsed. In other words, temporary continuation of slavery was necessary for the greater good.

And when slavery did come to an end, Ron would argue, it marked the end of America’s obligation to repair the damage done by its legacy. Those beliefs have given way to his rejection of systemic racism. To his core he believes that, no matter the circumstances of your birth, the American Dream is available to anyone who is rugged enough to fight for it. There are, in his mind, formerly enslaved people who resiliently marched toward greatness and there are those are forgotten in the “dustbin of history.” According to the DeSantis doctrine that alone is testimony to the divinity that inspired our founding and the equity that divinity infused into our Constitution. To contemplate anything less, for him, would be unpatriotic.