“Let me use a hypothetical what if to demonstrate my point. Let’s imagine . . .”
Yes, let’s imagine 13 slave states that claim they want freedom.
Let’s imagine representatives of the 13 slave states approve a declaration of independence. Let’s image that over 70 percent of the signers of the declaration own slaves themselves.
Let’s image the text of their declaration includes this charge against the leader of the mother country: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”
Would these circumstances, and that language, disqualify the slave states from instituting a government that derived its just powers from the consent of the governed?
The attitude toward the equality of men came from a lifetime of deep religious convictions. It was expressed in the Declaration of Independence, explained in the Federalist Papers and then written into our Constitution.
Would these circumstances, and that language, disqualify the slave states from instituting a government that derived its just powers from the consent of the governed?
It certainly seems that you stand with the slave owners on that subject.