--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [T]he West did not invent slavery; the…" description: "\"“[T]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery.”\" — Pat Buchanan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg" --- # \[T\]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery. ![“[T]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery.” quote by Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg) > ““\[T\]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery.”” [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The West did not create slavery but was instrumental in its abolition. **In simple terms:** The West ended slavery, though it didn't start it. Key Takeaway Recognize historical responsibility in ending oppression. Themes history morality politics justice responsibility Mood thoughtful critical Type historical analysis ethical reflection When to use this quote - education curricula - policy debates - activism - public discourse Key Concepts ethical evolution historical agency human rights Questions to Reflect On - What lessons does this teach about moral progress? - How can societies balance past harms with achievements? A Different Perspective Complex histories can oversimplify nuanced roles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abolitionism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionism/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Western civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western-civilization/) ## Related quotes > [Slavery in West Africa, and in Rome and in the Mediterranean, was something different than slavery in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-ball/slavery-in-west-africa-and-in-rome-and-in-the-mediterranean-was/) [Edward Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-ball/) > [But the West did not last long enough. Its folk myths and heroes became stage properties of Hollywood before the poets had begun to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dawson/but-the-west-did-not-last-long-enough-its-folk-myths-and-heroes/) [Christopher Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dawson/) > [I can't say with certainty that slavery would have ended more quickly and more completely if the South had been allowed to leave and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/i-can-t-say-with-certainty-that-slavery-would-have-ended-more-quickly/) [David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/) > [Every country ended slavery without civil war; US could have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/every-country-ended-slavery-without-civil-war-us-could-have/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [In our government-controlled schools we are taught that Lincoln was our greatest president because his war ended slavery and saved the Union. As usual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-maybury/in-our-government-controlled-schools-we-are-taught-that-lincoln-was/) [Richard J. Maybury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-maybury/) > [“Bear in mind, now, that most of this work was done by men who had no intention whatever, when they enlisted, of making war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/bear-in-mind-now-that-most-of-this-work-was-done-by-men-who-had-no/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [Throughout the three decades preceding the Civil War, the anticlerical ethos of the radical abolitionists was used against them by religious opponents of emancipation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/throughout-the-three-decades-preceding-the-civil-war-the-anticlerical/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [ “\[Emerson\] saw, in the beginning, no difference between abolitionism and the institutionalized religion he had rejected in the Divinity School address. They were both… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/emerson-saw-in-the-beginning-no-difference-between-abolitionism-and/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [In trying to address the systemic problem of racial injustice, we would do well to look at abolitionism, because here is a movement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manisha-sinha/in-trying-to-address-the-systemic-problem-of-racial-injustice-we/) [Manisha Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manisha-sinha/) > [“It's both a tremendous obligation and honor to undertake the unfulfilled work of the best of our abolitionist precursors--those who did not only want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-rodriguez/it-s-both-a-tremendous-obligation-and-honor-to-undertake-the/) Dylan Rodriguez > [“it would have been better never to have made a sacrifice of blood and treasure to save the Union than to have the democratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/it-would-have-been-better-never-to-have-made-a-sacrifice-of-blood-and/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Animal welfarism is a blatant lie. Anyone who truly cares for the welfare of another, would never dream of exploiting them. For just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mango-wodzak/animal-welfarism-is-a-blatant-lie-anyone-who-truly-cares-for-the/) [Mango Wodzak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mango-wodzak/) > [We often forget that the women's rights movement actually grew out of the abolition movement. It is really within abolitionism that many of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manisha-sinha/we-often-forget-that-the-women-s-rights-movement-actually-grew-out-of/) [Manisha Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manisha-sinha/) > [Abolitionism did not find positive response in Africa as it did in Western societies and cultures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-warraq/abolitionism-did-not-find-positive-response-in-africa-as-it-did-in/) [Ibn Warraq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-warraq/) > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Pat Buchanan > [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [On the McLaughlin Report, August 26, 1990: 'There are only two groups that are beating the drums for war in the middle East, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/on-the-mclaughlin-report-august-26-1990-there-are-only-two-groups/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [While our bipartisan establishment worships diversity, Trump saw Middle America recoiling from the demographic change brought about by Third World invasions. And he promised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/while-our-bipartisan-establishment-worships-diversity-trump-saw/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Candidate Trump held out his hand to Vladimir Putin. He rejected further U.S. intervention in Syria other than to smash ISIS.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/candidate-trump-held-out-his-hand-to-vladimir-putin-he-rejected/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [There has been sort of, if you will, a moral interventionism on the part of the United States trying to reshape countries in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/there-has-been-sort-of-if-you-will-a-moral-interventionism-on-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Our culture is superior. Our culture is superior because our religion is Christianity and that is the truth that makes men free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/our-culture-is-superior-our-culture-is-superior-because-our-religion/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [I think Trump is a very interesting candidate in this sense: I think he has cross-party appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/i-think-trump-is-a-very-interesting-candidate-in-this-sense-i-think/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Stop exporting American jobs. Stop exporting American factories, and stop exporting American sovereignty and independence to global institutions like the World Trade Organization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/stop-exporting-american-jobs-stop-exporting-american-factories-and/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [I think that in the minds of many, the press is being seen less and less as a neutral observer in the impeachment enterprise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/i-think-that-in-the-minds-of-many-the-press-is-being-seen-less-and/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [By threatening war against Iran, Iraq and North Korea in his now-famous "Axis of Evil" address, the president painted himself into a corner. Either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/by-threatening-war-against-iran-iraq-and-north-korea-in-his-now/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [I opposed NAFTA in 1993 and '94.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/i-opposed-nafta-in-1993-and-94/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [That a district judge would overrule the president of the United States on a matter of border security in wartime is absurd.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/that-a-district-judge-would-overrule-the-president-of-the-united/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [ \[The courts and the media elite\] are abolishing America, they are deconstructing our country ... they have dethroned our God. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/the-courts-and-the-media-elite-are-abolishing-america-they-are/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of the intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/anti-catholicism-is-the-anti-semitism-of-the-intellectual/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [Russia and China, which have embraced autocratic capitalism, have attracted admirers and emulators by the seeming success of their strongman rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/russia-and-china-which-have-embraced-autocratic-capitalism-have/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) [Explore all 192 Pat Buchanan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) ## More Abolitionism quotes > [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Abolitionism did not find positive response in Africa as it did in Western societies and cultures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-warraq/abolitionism-did-not-find-positive-response-in-africa-as-it-did-in/) [Ibn Warraq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-warraq/) > [We often forget that the women's rights movement actually grew out of the abolition movement. 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They were both… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-menand/emerson-saw-in-the-beginning-no-difference-between-abolitionism-and/) [Louis Menand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-menand/) > [Throughout the three decades preceding the Civil War, the anticlerical ethos of the radical abolitionists was used against them by religious opponents of emancipation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/throughout-the-three-decades-preceding-the-civil-war-the-anticlerical/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [With such irresistible evidence before us of the great and rapid progress of abolitionism without the slightest indication of abatement, he is blind who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-calhoun/with-such-irresistible-evidence-before-us-of-the-great-and-rapid/) [John C. Calhoun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-calhoun/) [Browse all 11 Abolitionism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abolitionism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[T]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pat Buchanan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-west-ended-slavery/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abolitionism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-west-ended-slavery/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5df/pat-buchanan-2005_abolitionism_t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-wes_1622119.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[T]he West did not invent slavery; the West ended slavery.” — Pat Buchanan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pat Buchanan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“[T]he West did not invent slavery;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-west-ended-slavery/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/t-he-west-did-not-invent-slavery-the-west-ended-slavery/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```