Liberal Forum

I enjoy reading American history. usually most of my peaked interests encompass the civil war era. However, the era of the founding years is just as captivating. In particular, I read about how the founders settled the flagrant contradiction between a free nation while holding onto slavery. Most of the founders owned slaves. They knew their hypocrisy. They just never had an answer for it. If they abolished slavery in the beginning, then the newfound country would be economically devastated. The country would collapse faster than it was founded. There is a very high probability that if they abolished slavery in the beginning, then America would never continue, let alone prosper. Jefferson hated the institution of slavery. However, he also knew that if he had freed his slaves, then he would go bankrupt. Slavery had not just needed to continue, at that time, but it needed to be the foundation of the country. 

The irony: In order for America to be a free nation, it had to be rooted in oppression.