Quote Originally Posted by cheeseburger
At some point in America's history, slavery was rampant throughout the entire country, and was accepted legally.
Talk about a fringe point of view!!! That's completely inaccurate if you're referring to America as "The United States of America" and accept that as such the United States of America didn't exist as an entity until the government was formed under the United States Constitution.
As such here are some actual facts:

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. Most Americans take the term to mean the actual written text which was completed on September 17, 1787, with its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was later ratified by special conventions in each state.[1] When nine states of the then thirteen states ratified the document it marked the creation of a union of sovereign states, and a federal government to operate that union. It took effect on March 4, 1789. The Constitution of the United States is the oldest federal constitution currently in use.

Therefore, The United States of America didn't exist until 1789...

In fact, the 1790 census (the first census conducted by the government of the United States of America) shows no slaves in MASSACHUSETTS, MAINE, NEW JERSEY, VERMONT, or DELAWARE.

By no means was slavery "rapant throught the entire country" nor was it "legally accepted"!!

In fact, in 1783 Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice William Cushing announced that slavery was incompatible with the new Massachusetts Constitution:

. . . [T]hese sentiments [that are favorable to the natural rights of mankind] led the framers of our constitution of government - by which the people of this commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves to each other - to declare - that all men are born free and equal; and that every subject is entitled to liberty, and to have it guarded by the laws as well as his life and property. In short, without resorting to implication in constructing the constitution, slavery is in my judgment as effectively abolished as it can be by the granting of rights and privileges wholly incompatible and repugnant to its existence. The court are therefore fully of the opinion that perpetual servitude can no longer be tolerated in our government, and that liberty can only be forfeited by some criminal conduct or relinquished by personal consent or contract.


The facts speak for themselves on this issue.