How am I sanitizing history?
And your posit, that ownership of slaves was not illegal under the U.S.Constitution, ignores the Declaration of Independence - “...that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - ...”. The U.S.Constitution was instituted government broadly enshrining the principles set forth in the 1776 document.
Historical fact is that the economies of southern states couldn’t function without “that peculiar institution” called slavery. To justify the enslavement of millions of people, southerners had to denigrate black slaves by maintaining that they weren’t truly ‘human’, and not entitled to the rights declared in 1776.
I would not call that sanitizing history!
Thomas Jefferson and Geo. Washington owned slaves so your argument is absurd. I’m afraid you are the one ignoring history. If slavery had been a big part of the northern economy it would not have been abolished. The North got upset about slavery only because it did not play a role in their economy.
ALL of the 13 original colonies permitted slavery in 1776.