Slavery was a controversial issue for the Founding Fathers of the USA. For the sake of building an independent country, they preferred to ignore the problems of inequality and injustice that slavery brought into the American society. Moreover, the majority of the Founders owned slaves themselves. There were only 7 Founding Fathers that were not slave owners: Roger Sherman, Thomas Paine, Robert Treat Paine, Alexander Hamilton, Oliver Ellsworth, Samuel Adams and John Adams (Laccarino). They came from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York or Pennsylvania and had to take into account conservative attitudes of the other Founding Fathers some of whom came from Southern states where slavery was an integral part of economy. Even legendary Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington used to own slaves. Therefore despite the fact that many politicians acknowledged that slavery did not correspond to the declared principles of liberty, on which the new country was being built, they thought that the issue of emancipation could not be resolved immediately. Thus, it was better to ignore the problem, rather than to address it.
Moreover, there were many obstacles, such as commitment to limited government, respect of states’ rights, or commitment to private property that preserved slavery (Laccarino). Nevertheless, American Revolution and consequent establishment of the United States of America became a very important period for making the first steps in the direction of abolition of slavery. One of the most persistent proponents of abolition was Abraham Lincoln. He was against slavery and in 1858 during the U.S. Senate race he tried to convince people that slavery did not correspond to the Declaration of Independence that stipulates: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence). In many debates against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln was promoting ideas of equality, nevertheless he lost. Two years later he participated in the presidential race and won it. As a result, he was able to promote ideas of abolition at the national level. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were two documents that he often referred to.
So, how was slavery preserved during the Founding of the USA and what did Lincoln think about slavery and the failure to abolish slavery in the XVIII century? Slavery in America began in 1619 when the first slaves arrived to Jamestown, Virginia. In the XVII and XVIII centuries slaves contributed to the economic growth of most colonies. Especially Southern colonies benefited from slavery, because a large number of people were needed to work in agriculture. In the period of 1790-1800 population of slaves was believed to be at its peak (Mullen). It is no wonder that during the Founding of the USA slavery was a very important factor for further economic growth and not many people wanted to abolish it. For example, Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the injustice of the slave trade, but he “absolved Americans of any responsibility for owning slaves themselves” (Laccarino). He and some other Founding Fathers supported the idea of prohibiting importation of foreign slaves and gradual emancipation of black people. For example, Benjamin Franklin, who once owned slaves, said that slavery “is an atrocious debasement of human nature”. Another politician from Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush, stated that “Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity”. Finally, James Madison wrote in Federalist #54 that Southern laws have “degraded [the slaves] from the human rank”. (All cited in Anderson 2).
In general, states had much power in terms of independent slavery politics and were not influenced by the decisions taken by the Congress. For example, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton founded state antislavery societies that contributed to the gradual abolition of slavery Pennsylvania and New York. On the contrary, Southern states introduced new laws that protected the rights of slave owners and made sure that anti-abolitionist movements were neither strong at the federal level nor at the state level (Laccarino). As it was written above, the main goal was to keep the young country united. Therefore, compromises and respect of the rights of Southern states were important for stability of the whole country. In 1830s, when the last Founding Fathers died, slavery was still present in the American society. In the Northern states it was abolished, but in the South and Southwest it was still very popular. Slaves could not be imported, but due to natural reproduction and internal domestic slave trade slavery remained to be a strong societal institution (Laccarino).
Almost 80 years later after the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln became one of the most persuasive politicians that promoted abolition of slavery. In 1854, he said: “if you can make it (slavery) your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you” (Cited in Founding.com). This simple logic was clear to everyone, but still there were many supporters of racism and slavery. Thus Abraham Lincoln and other members of the Republican Party had to spend many years in order to abolish slavery and make sure that black people had equal rights with white people. Unfortunately, after the Civil War it was clear that in Southern states it was impossible to change existing societal order quickly. Moreover, Northern and Southern states had to take compromise decisions again in order to reduce tension. Consequently, black people had to continue their struggle for emancipation. In general, Lincoln’s goal was to “revere the Declaration of Independence” and rely on policies or practices that “harmonize with it” (cited in Lehrman). Abraham Lincoln relied on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. He thought that the USA made great progress after the Constitution of the USA was approved, but its principles were forgotten. It became evident that there was very strong slavery lobby in the USA when the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was passed. A large number of pro-slavery settlers came to Kansas, but there were also many opponents of slavery. A brutal civil conflict was inevitable.
In 1854, Abraham Lincoln decided to take a very active part in the national debate over slavery. Actually it might have been “the greatest debate over the first principles of the American Republic” (Lehrman). For Abraham Lincoln slavery became “the question, the all-absorbing topic of the day” and in the next ten years he had to work very hard in order to persuade as many people as possible that American society had to be freed from slavery in order to develop further (Lehrman). The Declaration of Independence was a vital argument against the doctrines of Stephen Douglas and other pro-slavery politicians. For instance, Lincoln cited the following part of the Declaration: “Governments are instituted among men, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED” (Lehrman). He wanted to make this clause applicable for all American people, no matter what their race was. In Lincoln’s opinion the Declaration of Independence was an underlying basis for the American Constitution and other laws. Therefore when the Civil War started, for him it was a fight for equality and liberty and there was no way to reject the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that were passed almost a century before. His persistence laid the foundation for the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery in the USA.
In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the USA were the result of a compromise between representatives of different states. Therefore, politicians had to turn a blind eye to the issue of slavery for many years in order to integrate colonies and stand against strong monarchies in Europe. Additionally, for many colonies and later states slavery was an important factor of economic growth. So, even though the principle of equality was written in the Declaration of Independence, a large number of people were in two minds about the issue of slavery. Eventually, in 1808 importation of slaves was prohibited, but it took almost 60 more years to abolish slavery completely. One of the politicians that relied on the documents written by the Founding Fathers was Abraham Lincoln. He thought that the principles that were mentioned in these documents were misused. In Lincoln’s opinion the right for self-government could not justify presence of slavery in the society. It seems that in the 1850s-1860s people were more ready for abolition of slavery than in the 1770s-1780s. Now there is much research that shows that most Founding Fathers and Presidents before the Civil War were slave owners that were not sure that the USA could live without slavery. Abraham Lincoln became an important figure in the long-lasting fight for abolishing slavery in the USA. Thanks to him, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the USA did not lose their relevance.
Works Cited
Anderson, Kerby. Slavery in America - How Did the Founders and Early Christians Regard
It? Probe.org. 2003. Web. July 05, 2016
Ambrose, S. Founding Fathers and Slaveholders. Smithonian.com. November 2002. Web.
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Fragments on Slavery. Founding.com. 2014. Web. July 05, 2016
Lehrman, Lewis. Mr. Lincoln and the Declaration. 2014. Web. July 05, 2016
Laccarino, Anthony. The Founding Fathers and Slavery. Britannica. n.d. Web. July 05, 2016
Mullen, Lincoln. These Maps Reveal How Slavery Expanded Across the United States.
Smithonian.com. May 15, 2014. Web. July 05, 2016
Slavery in America. History.com. 2009. Web. July 05, 2016
