Comments about ‘Database lets Britons find slave-owning ancestors’

Researchers who spend the time to dig deep into their family history have learned that they may be surprised at what they find. One must be able to accept the unexpected, even if it bursts their bubble.

Forget whether I have ancestors involved...I am deeply embarrassed that my SPECIES was capable of this. And I am embarrassed that my COUNTRYMEN were able to FORMALLY justify this as late as the 1860s.

I am sure my ancestors made a few missteps along the way compared to what it politically and morally correct today but we can only live our own lives now, the dead lived by their own mores. One of the worst people in the Bible was Kind David, having Bathsheba's husband sent to die in battle. Does his sins carry on to his future generations?

I think very few if any genelogical lines would not yield some pretty bad ancesters along the way. Some pretty good ones too. As Million pointed out, we are not responsible for the sins of our fathers (and mothers).

@Healthy Skeptic

"Forget whether I have ancestors involved...I am deeply embarrassed that my SPECIES was capable of this. And I am embarrassed that my COUNTRYMEN were able to FORMALLY justify this as late as the 1860s."

Why are you embarrassed, if you had been living in the United States during its early years and you were a Southerner you would have probably owned slaves. It was just the culture of the times. You cannot change what happened in the past so why do you feel so guilty? One of my ancestors was a slave trader. Do I beat myself up because of it? No the past was the past and there is nothing I can do to chance that. Do you think God will forgive us our sins if we fail to forgive others theirs?