Lol are you denying that the opening line of the declaration of independence suggests that slavery is abominable? That was why it was written, and how it was interpreted by everyone who read it. It was attacked for almost a hundred years by supporters of the institution of slavery.

There was actually a whole section of the declaration of independence about how it was evil to own human beings, this was removed by necessity for a unanimous vote.

This post was edited by Shadowoffury on Oct 5 2025 03:44pm

Couldn't agree more, we should have picked our own cotton and have been paying for it ever since.
This still doesn't make them men at the time of it's creation or signing.
Hope this helps.

This post was edited by sirthom on Oct 5 2025 03:58pm

If denying very clearly and purposely crafted connotations is helpful then yeah it helps.

I am not saying that slavery wasn't necessary for building civilization, it was. It was probably not necessary in 1776 tho, which is what Thomas Jefferson believed, said, and wrote laws about.

Your idea that the declaration of independence in some way implies that America should be whites-only is so ludicrous that I can only assume you've never read it. It takes 20 minutes bud, give it a shot.

You keep trying to pigeonhole me into being pro slavery, I am not and and never been pro slavery.

I was not trying to do that at all. I only said that the "self-evident fact" that "all men are created equal" very clearly and purposely included minorities in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. You seem to believe this is not true, in spite of the repeatedly stated beliefs and intentions of the author... That may be the definition of a delusion

You are 100% wrong, they where considered property at that time.
Any statement otherwise is a delusional lie.

Lol yes, slavery existed.

The phrase we are discussing is abolitionist by design though. Again, it's perfectly clear. So clear it angered people who supported slavery.

This post was edited by Shadowoffury on Oct 5 2025 05:04pm

Wrong, While the Declaration of Independence stated that "all men are created equal," the foundational institutions of the time, like the Constitution, were built on a system of racial hierarchy and slavery that excluded African Americans from citizenship.
Citizenship for Black people was only formally established with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution after the Civil War.
Hope this helps.

Those things are true. They do not alter the fact that Jefferson was referring to ALL men when he wrote that all men are created equal. He didn't write "all citizens".

Lincoln mentioned a senator of his day who claimed that this statement was actually "a self-evident lie". These sorts of condemnations of "all men are created equal" were very common by pro-slavery politicians between independence and the civil war. Literally no one except you has ever thought that statement isn't a clear condemnation of the institution of slavery.

This post was edited by Shadowoffury on Oct 5 2025 05:16pm