THIS refers to the article ‘Living history’ (June 2) which traced the history of racism in America and recounted the Tulsa massacre that has been erased from American history books and which a historian has described as ‘American Kristallnacht’.

“The Tulsa massacre itself did not come out of the blue. Embedded in it were the entire legacy of slavery — the perpetuation of which was a key motivation for the war of independence …,” the said article stressed.

I would like to point out that the United States War of Independence had nothing to do with slavery. Instead, it was the American Civil War which was fought between the unionists and the confederates over slavery. The southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so that they could abolish unfavourable laws, especially those that interfered with the South’s right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wanted.

The American Civil War was fought by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US president, and his General Ulysses S. Grant, whereas the US War of Independence was fought by General George Washington, the first US president.

The Revolutionary War was an insurrection by American patriots that resulted in independence. It is always better to have a proper perspective when it comes to dealing with historical facts.

Safir Siddiqui
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2021