Yumyumsuppertime wrote:Kington Langley wrote:But surely, in 1776, the United States was an illegitimate treasonous state that sought to uphold the institution of slavery?
More like an illegitimate treasonous state (until the Treaty of Paris) that was somewhat conflicted about the institution of slavery. Either way, at the time, there was no reason to think that His Majesty's government sought to end the slave trade, so it wasn't a cause for rebellion.
Indeed, in fact at the time some American colonial legislatures were more opposed to the slave-trade than His Majesty's government.
I noted earlier about how early drafts of the DoI even included talk about that issue, but were removed by the Continental Congress before it was finally signed. The Colonial Revolution leadership had an opportunity to make slavery a component issue (albeit in opposition to the slave trade) at the time, and chose (by intent, even) to make no statement on it at all.