No. Teeny tiny minorities believed that the races were equal and that slavery should be immediately abolished. The number of those who believed that slavery was morally wrong was larger than that. But they felt that it wasn't their place to demand its abolition. They figured the problem would resolve itself somehow, sometime.
Why is this so hard to grasp? We can believe that what happens in Darfur or Bosnia or Rwanda or Syria is morally wrong, and yet still believe that it's not something we can prevent or solve ourselves. We can condemn injustice or brutality without expecting the victims to move in next door, and hesitation about them moving in doesn't mean that we hate them or that we don't care about injustice.
The vast majority of northerners hated black people, didn't care what happened to them so long as it was far away from them.
If African-Americans were that far away, maybe Whites didn't think about them very much at all. Or if they did think about them, maybe it wasn't in terms of Blacks moving in and taking away their jobs or land. If you lived in Vermont or Maine, you might actually have some sympathy for what slaves were going through. You might not expect that they'd all be moving to your town (and they haven't yet after over a century) and you might not necessarily hate them. If you did hate Black people, you might well thank slaveowners for keeping them far way and in chains.
I don't discount the fact that many Northerners did hate colored people or want them kept at a distance (not exactly the same thing), but to make them representative of the vast majority of Northerners is to engage in caricature. Probably most of the time, many Northerners didn't think about Blacks at all. And when many did think about slavery it wasn't in terms of racial equality or Blacks moving into their neighborhood. It was about liberty or about cruelty or about Northern pride or anger at injustice. As one historian said, race is our obsession, it wasn't necessarily the obsession of 19th century Americans - at least not to the degree that we now think it would be.
Seems reasonable.
We can condemn injustice or brutality without expecting the victims to move in next door, and hesitation about them moving in doesn't mean that we hate them or that we don't care about injustice.
True, but the picture changes when you pass actual laws to stop them from moving in. The representatives had become an active part of the suppression, and they are speaking for the larger body of people.
If you lived in Vermont or Maine, you might actually have some sympathy for what slaves were going through.
I think this is quite right. The information these people would have would be what they were told by others, and many of these others would be abolitionists attempting to influence them. I suspect a lot of cherry picked evidence was provided in this effort to influence them.
If you did hate Black people, you might well thank slaveowners for keeping them far way and in chains.
I think that if anyone thought that, they were very few indeed.
I don't discount the fact that many Northerners did hate colored people or want them kept at a distance (not exactly the same thing), but to make them representative of the vast majority of Northerners is to engage in caricature.
Were there not such horrible laws passed in northern states, there would be no basis on which to present such a caricature.
Probably most of the time, many Northerners didn't think about Blacks at all. And when many did think about slavery it wasn't in terms of racial equality or Blacks moving into their neighborhood. It was about liberty or about cruelty or about Northern pride or anger at injustice.
That sentiment was being constantly stirred, so I do not doubt it grew over time. Especially as when it was seen to align with their own interests.
As one historian said, race is our obsession, it wasn't necessarily the obsession of 19th century Americans - at least not to the degree that we now think it would be.
I generally ignore race. Christianity teaches that all men are brothers, and that is what I learned growing up.
Christianity is what made those five words of Jefferson resonate. Had we held a different religion, or no religion, those words would have fallen on deaf ears.