In 1775, when fighting broke out, the colonists banned British slave ships. So no new slaves came in after then and even after 1783 it was very sparse. Washington and Adams each signed legislation making it more difficult and Jefferson withdrew the US from the slave trade altogether.
And yet we kept slaves for nearly 100 years after that. We half knew it was wrong but just couldn’t cross the line. Like somebody in their 30s that’s keeps doing crappy stuff and blames their parents. They know it’s crappy, they know it should stop, but they keep doing it anyway. Cause they’re not good people.
“Washington and Adams each signed legislation making it more difficult”
I would greatly appreciate more information about this. I tried looking, but it is all over-shadowed by the 1807 ban.