Massachusetts was the first to my knowledge to attempt to ban slavery. Mid 1760s.
It was met with a veto directed from across the sea. Who’s fault was that?
Virginia was another who tried banning slavery, but was also met with a veto from across the sea.
Who’s fault was that?
We were on the front lines. Our Founders were correct on the issue of slavery. The British Empire were the bad guys who forced it on us.
True, I was thinking post 1776 since prior to that, or 1881 or 1883, we were colonies. I wouldn’t necessarily say England forced it on us, but it was a key to the economy of the Empire. And in many colonies it was simply replaced by indentured servitude. Indentured servitude didn’t end in the Empire till 1917 after many Asians were “relocated” to the Carribean.
The British Empire were the bad guys who forced it on us.
Bet if no one in the colonies bought any of the slaves brought here, the trade would have ended quite quickly.
Georgia was the first colony to ban slavery, but it was eventually forced to allow it because of the relentless soapbox campaign of Glen Beck's favorite religious grifter, George Whitefield, lobbying on behalf of New England puritans.
It's easy to condemn slaveowners from a distance, but how can any of us know what we would have done if born into a slaveholding family? Would we have impoverished ourselves by freeing our slaves or would we have salved our consciences by telling ourselves that we were treating our slaves kindly, and we wished that the institution would be ended somehow before long?