[Sherman Logan]

American citizens are instrumental in carrying on a traffic in enslaved Africans, equally in violation of the laws of humanity and in defiance of those of their own country.

To be clear, Madison is here talking about the importation of slaves from Africa, not their continued enslavement here or the selling of slaves inside the USA.

[Bob]

To be clear, Madison is here talking about the importation of slaves from Africa, not their continued enslavement here or the selling of slaves inside the USA.

While that's true, it's often the case that one can't reach a desired goal in one leap. I think that preventing the importation of new slaves was a small, but necessary, step toward eliminating slavery in the US as a whole.

[CodeToad]

To beleive that you must believe that he feels enslaving Africans is wrong, yet, keeping them and their offspring enslaved once here is acceptable. Don’t think so. He may not have been perfectly specific but he was talking about salvery as a whole.

[CodeToad]

To beleive that you must believe that he feels enslaving Africans is wrong, yet, keeping them and their offspring enslaved once here is acceptable. Don’t think so. He may not have been perfectly specific but he was talking about slavery as a whole.