Declaration Of Independence And Anti-Slavery

The Dutch brought the first African slaves onto American soil when they arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in August 1619. (American Yawp, Chapter 2). This event planted the seeds of slavery, which brought about cruel, inhumane treatment and abuse of a whole race of people. In the earlier colonial days, African slaves were treated like indentured servants- mainly poor Europeans contracted to work for a certain amount of time. However, this would change after the colonies expanded their tobacco plantations and needed a larger workforce. African slaves were less costly than indentured servants, thus beginning the widespread use of slaves in the colonies. Abuse of the African slaves became more prominent, and with it, came protests and backlash. After
Both critics and defenders of slavery drew upon the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution to make their respective cases by invoking the equality clause, the Founding Fathers intentions regarding slavery’s expansion, and states’ rights. The United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence both proclaimed that all men were created equal and that they were entitled to inalienable rights, of which the government should never violate. Any government that should infringe on such rights can and should be overthrown by its citizens. Pro and anti-slavery supporters make use of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution to speak on the equality clause of the historic documents. David Walker, the son of an enslaved man and free black woman, cites the Declaration of Independence and it’s equality clause to support his anti-slavery argument. Walker speaks of the hypocrisies of the American claims of freedom and Christianity: “See your Declaration Americans!!! Do you understand your own language? Hear your language, proclaimed to the world, July 4th, 1776—”We
Many looked to the Constitution and what the Founding Fathers explicitly stated for guidance on the matter. Pro and anti-slavery supporters debated over the Founding Fathers’ intentions regarding slavery and its expansion. The Republican Party Platform of 1860 opposed the expansion of slavery into the West and was against the reopening of the slave trade. “That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the Rights of the States, and the Union of the States must and shall be preserved.” (Republican Party Platform, 1860). The Republican Party believed the Framers intended for slavery to be abolished as they explicitly state that all men are created equal. However, pro-slavery supporters believe this argument to be invalid as the Founders included the Three-fifths Compromise, which explains that, for the purpose of representation; slaves are to be counted as only three-fifths of a person. Thus, pro-slavery