No One, I Think, Can Doubt That The Founders Of The Great American
Commonwealth Made An Error In Omitting To Provide Some Means For The
Gradual Extinction Of Slavery Throughout The States.
That error did
not consist in any liking for slavery.
There was no feeling in
favor of slavery on the part of those who made themselves prominent
at the political birth of the nation. I think I shall be justified
in saying that at that time the opinion that slavery is itself a
good thing, that it is an institution of divine origin and fit to be
perpetuated among men as in itself excellent, had not found that
favor in the Southern States in which it is now held. Jefferson,
who has been regarded as the leader of the Southern or Democratic
party, has left ample testimony that he regarded slavery as an evil.
It is, I think, true that he gave such testimony much more freely
when he was speaking or writing as a private individual than he ever
allowed himself to do when his words were armed with the weight of
public authority. But it is clear that on the whole he was opposed
to slavery, and I think there can be little doubt that he and his
party looked forward to a natural death for that evil. Calculation
was made that slavery when not recruited afresh from Africa could
not maintain its numbers, and that gradually the negro population
would become extinct. This was the error made.
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