How Did African Americans Contribute To The Declaration Of Independence

The delegates struggled with the issue of slavery, which contributed to the violation of equality and opportunity of African-Americans. “ Some Americans were struck by the obvious contradiction between America’s egalitarian Declaration of Independence and its support of slavery” (James O. Horton). Most northern delegates loathed the idea of slavery, therefore it created an issue between northern and southern delegates. The northern delegates were confused on why the Declaration of Independence states that every man is created equal, but African-American man aren’t even considered people. “In 1780, Pennsylvania passed legislation that provided for gradual emancipation, and four years later Connecticut and Rhode Island did the same. Thus, by the time the Constitutional Convention met in the spring of 1787, it was clear to most delegates that the nation was moving toward a regional split on the question of slavery” (Gilderlehman.org). The southern states were concerned that they would lose ability to make decisions regarding slavery. The Constitution included the ⅗ compromise, which allowed the southern states to have more representation in the Electoral College and the
“The transatlantic slave trade was responsible for the forced migration of between 12 - 15 million people from Africa to the Western Hemisphere from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century” (USI). The northern delegates struggled with this because they wanted to get rid of this trade, but some northern business benefited from the trade. “Northern business often played a significant role in financing the trade, outfitting and supplying the crews, and building the ships that transported slaves to American ports” (James O. Horton). But, with the trade, the southern states were concerned that they maybe getting too many slaves and some of the southern states even closed their ports to slaves for a short period of