I regard the Ordinance which redeemed a territory of more than two hundred and sixty thousand square miles, from the unspeakable sin and curse of slavery, and consecrated it to freedom, as one of the grandest moral events in the annals of mankind.
Mann highlights the importance of the Ordinance in abolishing slavery in a vast territory, viewing it as a monumental moral achievement.
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Her lowland neighbors of Maryland and the Carolinas were not far behind at the seeding; nor are they far behind at the ingathering of desolation.
Old Virginia was the first to sow this land of ours with slavery; she is also the first to reap the full harvest of destruction.
Did the law ever contemplate so cruel and revengeful a proceeding?
This is the reciprocity of slave law.--to be forever liable to be proved guilty, but never able to prove himself innocent; to be subject to all punishments, but, through his own oath, to no protection.
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