My friend wrote:
I had a liberal bring up the declaration if independence regarding slavery. I got mad because he kept foundering around on issues. So, I told him that is was an obvious issue. He talked about the civil war. I said it was a states-rights issue, it again brought up the dec. of ind. with " all men are created equal". I understand his logic, but that didn't guarantee abolition of slavery because states were left to make that decision. Would you say that's the reason the founders did not abide by the "all men are created equal"? I've been confused over that as well.
and my response:
Douglas V. Gibbs
They knew that slavery was a sin. They did believe that all men were created equal, or at least a number of them did. However, without the vote of the southern States, the Constitution would have never been ratified. And you are right, slavery was up to each State, so abolition needed to be done by each State, if not by amendment. Approaching the Civil War, a strong abolition movement was in play in the South, and I believe that if the war had not broke out, slavery would have been abolished State by State within two decades. Getting back to the founders, one must remember that they did not just forget about slavery. In fact, they began the abolition process in the text of Article I, Section 9, which enabled the Congress to outlaw the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1808. If they were high on slavery, why would they work to abolish the Atlantic Slave Trade?
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