But one by one, those states did indeed remove slavery.
You could as easily argue for Jim Crow because in 1880, most Northern states had anti-Negro (and others) laws as well. We didn’t even allow women to vote until 1920.
As I said before, the Enlightenment, whose pinnacle of thought is represented in the Declaration of Independence, started these changes that took a long time—and we’re still at it—to achieve.
But even so, it all comes down to the Creator. God.
That is who wants us all Free.
So they said, but not really. There were still slaves in Pennsylvania in 1840.
First state to get rid of slavery was Massachusetts. And how did they do it? Judicial activism and creative "interpretation" of the newly created state constitution of 1780.
Basically they stole all the slaves through a deceitful court ruling. I have read that a lot of Massachusetts slave owners scrambled to sell their slaves over the border before they could be taken from them.
You could as easily argue for Jim Crow because in 1880, most Northern states had anti-Negro (and others) laws as well.
The laws in the state of Illinois (and other Northern states) were far worse than anything Jim Crow laws ever did. In Illinois they had a right to sell you into slavery for simply being in the state past a specified time, or not having papers, or pretty much for any d@mned reason they pleased.
What I have learned in researching this is that the vast majority of Northern opposition to slavery was based on hatred of black people and hatred of the idea that some slave might undermine their ability to earn wages in exchange for their labor.
They viewed slaves as "scabs" that would take bread out of their mouths, and they hated slaves and they hated black people and did not want them in their society.
This is of course contradictory to what we have been led to believe, which is that Northern opposition to slavery was based on the immorality of forcing people to work against their will, but this motivation was only true of a very tiny minority of people that were regarded as "kooks" of that era, not unlike the liberal activists of today.
The vast majority hated slavery as a threat to their livelihood and because they absolutely did not want black people living among them. Some of the hatred was engendered from the envy of the wealthy plantation owners and the belief that it was wrong to gain wealth through the work of others rather than yourself.
But even so, it all comes down to the Creator. God. That is who wants us all Free.
No argument. I agree.