compiled & edited by Daniel Hagadorn

Note these additional examples of the anti-slavery positions resolutely embraced by several influential American figures:

JOHN WITHERSPOON (1723-1794)… Founding Father… Signatory Declaration of Independence & Articles of Confederation… President of Princeton University [6th] (1768-1794)… Delegate to Continental Congress [NJ] (1776-1782)

“[I]t is certainly unlawful to make inroads upon others [slaves]…and take away their liberty by no better right than superior force.” [1]

GEORGE MASON (1725-1792)… Founding Father… “Co-Father of the Bill of Rights”… Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1787 [VA]

“As much as I value a union of all the States, I would not admit the Southern States into the Union unless they agree to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade [slavery].” [2]

JOHN DICKINSON (1732-1808)… Founding Father… Signatory Articles of Confederation & U.S. Constitution… Delegate to Continental Congress [PA] (1774-1776)… Delegate to Continental Congress [DE] (1779-1781)… Governor [DE] (1781-1782)… Governor [PA] (1782-1785)… Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1787 [PA]

“As Congress is now to legislate for our extensive territory lately acquired, I pray to Heaven that they may build up the system of the government on the broad, strong, and sound principles of freedom. Curse not the inhabitants of those regions, and of the United States in general, with a permission to introduce bondage [slavery].” [3]

RICHARD HENRY LEE (1732-1794)… Founding Father… Signatory Declaration of Independence & Articles of Confederation… President of Continental Congress [12th] (1784-1785)… U.S. Senator [VA] (1789-1792)

“Christianity, by introducing into Europe the truest principles of humanity, universal benevolence, and brotherly love, had happily abolished civil slavery. Let us who profess the same religion practice its precepts…by agreeing to this duty.” [4]

PATRICK HENRY (1736-1799)… Founding Father… Governor [VA] [1st & 6th] (1776-1779) (1784-1786)… Delegate to Constitutional Convention [VA] (1788)

“I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil. Everything we do is to improve it, if it happens in our day; if not, let us transmit to our descendants, together with our slaves, a pity for their unhappy lot and an abhorrence of slavery.” [5]

CHARLES CARROLL of CARROLLTON (1737-1832)… Founding Father… Signatory Declaration of Independence… U.S. Senator [MD] (1789-1792)

“[W]hy keep alive the question of slavery? It is admitted by all to be a great evil.” [6]

JOSEPH REED (1741-1785)… Founding Father… Signatory Articles of Confederation… Adjutant-General Continental Army… Governor [PA] (1778-1781)… Delegate to Continental Congress [PA] (1778-?)

“Honored will that State be in the annals of history which shall first abolish this violation of the rights of mankind [slavery].” [7]

OLIVER ELLSWORTH (1745-1807)… U.S. Senator [CT] (1789-1796)… Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1787 [CT]… Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court [3rd] (1796-1800)

“All good men wish the entire abolition of slavery, as soon as it can take place with safety to the public, and for the lasting good of the present wretched race of slaves.” [8]

BENJAMIN RUSH (1746-1813)… Founding Father… Signatory Declaration of Independence… Delegate to 1st Continental Congress [PA] (1774)… Treasurer of U.S. Mint (1797-1813)… Delegate to Constitutional Convention [PA]

“Domestic slavery is repugnant to the principles of Christianity… It is rebellion against the authority of a common Father. It is a practical denial of the extent and efficacy of the death of a common Savior. It is a usurpation of the prerogative of the great Sovereign of the universe who has solemnly claimed an exclusive property in the souls of men.” [9]

LUTHER MARTIN (1748-1826)… Founding Father… Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1787 [MD]… State Attorney General [MD] (1818-1822)

“[I]t ought to be considered that national crimes can only be and frequently are punished in this world by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave-trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him who is equally Lord of all and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master.” [10]

JAMES WILSON (1742-1798)… Founding Father… Signatory Declaration of Independence & U.S. Constitution… Delegate to Continental Congress [PA] (1776-1777)… Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1787 [PA]… Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court (1789-1798)

“Slavery, or an absolute and unlimited power in the master over the life and fortune of the slave, is unauthorized by the common law… The reasons which we sometimes see assigned for the origin and the continuance of slavery appear, when examined to the bottom, to be built upon a false foundation. In the enjoyment of their persons and of their property, the common law protects all.”[11]

NOAH WEBSTER (1758-1843)… “Father of American Scholarship and Education”… Founder Connecticut Society for the Abolition of Slavery (1791)… Published An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

“Justice and humanity require it [the end of slavery]—Christianity commands it. Let every benevolent…pray for the glorious period when the last slave who fights for freedom shall be restored to the possession of that inestimable right.” [12]

Frederick Douglass, former slave and arguably America’s most important abolitionist, clearly believed that the Framers opposed slavery when he asserted:

“But I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length—nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq., by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerritt Smith, Esq. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour… [L]et me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slave-holding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can anywhere be found in it.” [13]

Douglass makes a persuasive point since the Articles of Confederation (our nation’s first constitution) also made no mention of slavery. Under the Articles, congressional representation was organized with each state responsible for selecting its own representatives. For that reason, state population—which later became a critical issue for the future House of Representatives—was irrelevant. Furthermore, because the question of fugitive slaves and the idea of an abolitionist movement were issues almost unheard of as late as the 1780s, there is no mention of them in the Articles. The Fugitive Clause in Article 4 comes closest, but even that brief reference related to convicts not slaves.

Moreover, the Framers scrupulously avoided the words “slave” and “slavery” in the text of the U.S. Constitution. Instead, they used phrases like “importation of Persons” in Article 1, Section 9 for the slave trade, “other persons” in Article 1, Section 2, and “person held to service or labor” in Article 4, Section 2 for slaves. Not until the 13th Amendment (adopted 6 December 1865) was slavery specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The amendment employed the term to avoid any ambiguity as to exactly what the words were eliminating. Later, the 14th Amendment (adopted 9 July 1868) eliminated the euphemisms “other persons” and “three-fifths clause”.

Nevertheless, slavery remained a contentious issue for Congress to address. For that reason, a compromise was reached in Article 1, Section 9, which expressly limited Congress from prohibiting the “Importation” of slaves before 1808. However, after 1808 Congress immediately passed a law abolishing the slave trade, effective 1 January 1808.

In addition to fighting these political battles, several prominent Framers were also members of anti-slavery societies and included: Richard Bassett, James Madison, James Monroe, Bushrod Washington, William Few, John Marshall, Richard Stockton, and Zephaniah Swift, et. al. Furthermore, based in part on the efforts of these Framers, the constitutions of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts expressly abolished slavery in 1780; [14] Connecticut and Rhode Island followed in 1784; [15] Vermont in 1786; [16] New Hampshire in 1792; [17] New York in 1799; [18] and finally, New Jersey in 1804. [19]

Moreover, the reason that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa all prohibited slavery vis-à-vis congressional mandate (Northwest Ordinance of 1787), was largely due to the efforts of Constitutional Convention delegate, Rufus King. [20] The Ordinance, signed into law by President George Washington, [21] prohibited slavery in those territories. [22] Unsurprisingly, Washington signed the law and subsequently declared:

“I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery].” [23]

Look for the next installment, “Mental Slavery?”, Part 4