How Benedict Cumberbatch's family made a fortune from slavery

[mythology]

163. I hope you don't live in a country that ever had slavery, or traded with nations that did

Because otherwise, you've benefited from slavery.

In fact, Edmund Morgan, one of the best early American historians draws a direct link between the style of government the U.S. started and slavery. For 50 of the first 60 years, the presidency was held by somebody who owned slaves in their lifetime. 12 U.S. Presidents have owned slaves, that's more than 25% of Presidents. Morgan's argument was that there was a direct causal relation between the existence of slavery and the emergence of democracy.

If it's so vital that we understand how individuals may have benefited from the existence of slavery, then you should at least consider how you benefited. Because you benefited from the U.S. government, you benefited from the trade that existed because of slavery, both in terms the growth of the plantation economy in the south, but also the demand for goods manufactured in the north. That trade in turn benefited Europe due to increased goods being manufactured or grown here.

But you haven't posted that. Instead you've talked about people who are wealthier than you. Is there a cut off, that somebody's family needed to make X number of dollars from slavery before it becomes a problem? If so, why that amount and not say, however much you benefited from it?