This is an important history lesson that everyone should learn. What is missing is that it was an English judge and the colonies were under English rule.
Slaves became the “money” the English needed to pay for the cotton and other goods from the colonies.
The importation of slaves into the newly formed United
States was ended in 1808. Fifty-seven years later they were all free. In geopolitical time, that is like a mere blink of the eye.
Thank you for pointing that out.
I've done that math, too.
It in no way erases the evil of slavery in the US, but at least we DID something about it.
And slavery has existed from the beginning of time.
Compared to other countries, we were pikers.
Just look at South America.
They took by an order of magnitude more of the bulk of trans-Atlantic slaves than North America.
But nobody gives us credit for how DESCENDANTS of slaves in the US have done vs. I don't know, EVERYWHERE on Earth.