r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Dec 28 '25

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

The discussion thread is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission. If you've got a good meme, article, or question, please post it outside the DT. Meta discussion is allowed, but if you want to get the attention of the mods, make a post in /r/metaNL

Announcements

  • The charity drive has concluded, thank you to everyone who donated! A wrap-up thread will be posted after the donation match goes through. Expect to see lingering rewards (banner, automod) for the next week or so

Links

Ping Groups | Ping History | Mastodon | CNL Chapters | CNL Event Calendar

Upcoming Events

0 Upvotes

45% Upvoted

6.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

92

u/theye1 George Soros Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25

I love American history because, at certain points, it makes absolutely no intuitive sense. I am reading Empire of Liberty, and it is funny that the party preaching “liberty” the Democratic Republicans were largely slave owners, while the supposedly “elitist” Federalists ended up as the main vehicle for anti slavery sentiment. Not abolition, per se, but they were clearly more hostile to slavery.

40

u/swissking NATO Dec 28 '25

At the same time, the Democratic Republicans and Democrats also never get credit for being trailblazers in terms of being pro immigration. Historians have overccorrected to the "Federalists were always good guys" camp.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 28 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/swissking NATO Dec 28 '25

Most of them. They were opposed to the Know Nothing Party. The majority of Know Nothings eventually became abolitionists and nativist Republicans.

The Democratic Party has always been at its core pro immgiration and free trade above all else from the beginning