On the record
Even those who cherished it most were ashamed of it; and in those provisions of the constitution which were designed for its temporary protection, a common regard for decency forbade the mention of its name.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Mann observes that even supporters of slavery felt shame about it, leading to its indirect mention in the Constitution.
Share
More from Horace Mann
Cast it off, West Virginians, whilst yet you have the power; for if you let it descend unbroken to your children, it will have grown to a mountain of misery upon their heads.
The general system of slaveholding farmers and planters, in all times and places, has been, and now is, and ever will be, to cultivate much land, badly, for present gain,--in short, to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Out of universal education come genius, skill, and enterprise, and the desire of bettering one’s condition.
They cannot do otherwise with laborers who work by compulsion, for the benefit only of their masters, and whose sole interest in the matter is to do as little and to consume as much as possible.
Other voices in this conversation
