First some background. At the time the DOI was written, the slave states were: New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland.
Also, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia were slave states.
The reason people in these states owned slaves was because they considered it in their economic and political best self-interest to do so.
After the break from Britain, the slave states enshrined slavery - I meant to say included slavery - in the US constitution. And for the same reason: they considered it in their economic and political best self-interest to do so.
Now about the DOI: “HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose know Rule of Warfare . . .”
This paragraph identifies two causes for independence: “He has excited domestic Insurrections . . .” AND (emphasis added) “has endeavoured . . . merciless Indian Savages . . .”
Two causes. Read it again. For the first time.
The DOl was referring to indians here, not slaves