British Archives staff put trigger warning next to the U.S. Declaration of Independence flagging it 'outdated, biased and offensive'

Leftist hate has no limits

A famed British historian has hit out at ‘moronic’ National Archives staff who decided to erect a ‘trigger warning’ next to the Declaration of Independence for fears its ‘outdated’ content could cause offence.

Professor Andrew Roberts said that a rare copy of the 18th century document, which represents the founding papers of the United States, is now adorned with a trigger warning for ‘outdated, biased and offensive’ content at its home in the National Archives in Richmond, London.

The visiting professor at King’s College London and critically-acclaimed author said: ‘Anyone who thinks an 18th century document is not going to be outdated, biased and offensive is frankly a moron.

‘When you go to see the declaration, you read what it says about Native Americans and so on, you won’t be so offended that you can’t stand up,’ he said sarcastically of the trigger warning.

It comes just days after it was revealed that Bath Spa University had slapped offensive content caveats on the likes of celebrated English poets William Wordsworth and John Keats – though the addition of content warnings to historical texts suggests the ‘moronic’ practice is being taken one step further.

Trigger warnings have gained popularity in recent years in response to concerns that people could be adversely affected by any troubling content.

But there has significant pushback from historians on any mention of trigger warnings being applied to historical texts or documents for fear that the practice will lead to attempts to censor or erase important parts of history.

A spokeswoman for the National Archives said: ‘We are aware that some of the terminology used at the time [of the declaration's writing] is not appropriate or may cause offence today.

‘If we are using documents in a talk or webinar, for example, then we would endeavour to make people aware that the documents may contain terms that we would not use today.’  

The US Constitution was written as part of a months-long process that included deliberations and compromise by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

The most notable delegates included some of the nation’s founding fathers, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. The convention was presided over by George Washington, the country’s first president.

It was convened in order to remedy the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation, which to that point was the country’s governing document.

Adopted after the 13 states won their independence from Great Britain, the Articles proved ineffectual in allowing a central government to perform basic tasks, like taxation, raising an army, and adjudicating interstate disputes.

But in recent years, as the nation has wrestled with its history that saw non-white communities like Native Americans and African slaves severely marginalized, some have proposed changes to the language of the founding documents.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10658193/National-Archives-staff-branded-morons-trigger-warning-Declaration-Independence.html

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