When Mengzi says that human nature is good, Mengzi's thought is that human beings have innate potentials, or predispositions, toward such virtues. We naturally tend toward these virtues. As Mengzi says, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are not welded to us externally. We inherently have them.
Though the Union victory freed the nationâs 4 million slaves, the legacy of slavery continued to influence American history, from the tumultuous years of Reconstruction (1865-77) to the civil rights movement that emerged in the 1960s, a century after emancipation.
The Underground Railroad began in early 1800s, and was the most active from 1850 to 1860, freeing about 1,000 slaves per year. Over the entire course of the Underground Railroad, more than 100,000 slaves were freed using the system.