Replies

No, you can be certain that if our Founders had intended to make slavery legal in every state, regardless of that state's own laws, they would have said so.

Requiring all states to return freed slaves is them pretty much saying so.

Again, George Washington himself flaunted Pennsylvania's anti-slavery laws.

But seriously, tell me how this works. How do you get around "YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO RETURN SLAVES TO THEIR MASTERS."

How does a "free state" get around that requirement?

DiogenesLamp: "But seriously, tell me how this works. How do you get around 'YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO RETURN SLAVES TO THEIR MASTERS.' "

But nobody before the 1857 Dred Scott decision even imagined that Southern slave-holders could move permanently to Northern free-states and still hold their slaves in bondage.

The basic principle here is very simple: Northern states must respect Southern slave laws by returning runaway slaves.
Southerners must respect Northern anti-slavery laws by not bringing & settling their slaves in free-states.

That's the law which you claim Washington "flaunted".
In fact, Washington conscientiously followed the letter of Pennsylvania's anti-slavery laws by cycling his slaves in and out within the allowed time period.

So, our Founders' original intentions are clear here, and it is the Supreme Court's 7-2 Dred-Scott decision which was way, way out of bounds.