[MBB1984]

It would have been a tremendous bargain. Perhaps even better, it would have avoided the disastrous 14th Amendment under which all states suffer today.

[Eastbound]

"It would have been a tremendous bargain. Perhaps even better, it would have avoided the disastrous 14th . . . "

Perhaps not. Congress needed a vehicle for granting privileges and immunities as it could not grant or bestow rights on the freed slaves. The P and I served the same purpose without having to re-write the Constitution.