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I was replying to a post about the Law of Moses, to which I was referring. Sorry about the ambiguity.

LOL! No ambiguity on your part, just my persnickety insistence on being sure I don't plant my foot squarely in the middle of it before I reply. :-)

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Every slave, except those born to the state, starts out with a kidnapping.

While I agree with the sentiment, (and at the risk of beginning a moral argument) I can not agree with the statement. Tucker goes into great detail on the legal aspect of slavery in the link previously posted.

The facts are the facts. Slavery, as a legally recognized institution, came to this country with the Pilgrims. It was still such as the colonies were settled, when the Declaration of Independence was written, the American Revolution was fought and the State and federal Constitutions were signed.

Did the Founders create an inherent flaw in the federal Constitution by guaranteeing the right of human ownership to the People and quasi-human political status to the slaves? I cannot say. I do not feel qualified to judge them.

Of one thing, I am certain.

Sweeping the entire question under the rug for fear of offending ANYONE does a great disservice to the idea of Liberty and weakens the foundation of our country.

There is a way to reconcile the two. The 14th Amendment, IMHO, was not the answer.

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On a side note, since you realize the role the States played in determining citizenship, do you also know why, even though they were written by (mostly) the same men, do you know why the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are 2 different documents?

Slavery, as a legally recognized institution, came to this country with the Pilgrims.

Incorrect. The Pilgrims had no slaves on arrival. The first slaves were brought into MA apparently around 1630.

The early settlers in Jamestown had no slaves. The first Africans in VA were brought in as indentured servants, with identical legal status to white indentured servants. Interestingly, it was a free black slaveowner in VA who first sued to change the status of his black indentured servants to permanent and hereditary slavery.

It wasn't till the 1660s that the law began to recognize chattel slavery and it was 1705, 100 years after settlement, before slavery in VA was fully codified legally. Practical slavery of course tended to generally precede its legal recognition.