Declaration of Independence and slavery in US
The United States has always been considered the land of the free. This is a country that upholds the concepts of liberty and freedom as fundamental in the constitution. However, while the concept of slavery is considered in several articles in the constitution, it is apparent that there is no mention of the term in the document. Besides, the founding fathers, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Jay, among others, practiced slavery. Nevertheless, there were also widespread conflicts about the institution that many considered to be both immoral and politically divisive. Conversely, other founders of the nation, including John Adams and Samuel Adams, opposed the institution of slavery throughout their lives.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson asserted the aspirations of a new nation that was based on self-government and individual freedom. However, this Declaration did not seem to cover the Life, Liberty, and Happiness of African Americans who were mostly slaves. Most of the founding fathers who were against slavery did not help in pushing its abolition. Consequently, it would take the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War, and the 13th Amendment to put an end to it. The 13th Amendment contradicted the original constitutional position that seemed to give African Americans only two thirds the rights allowed to the rest of the population in Article 1, Section 2 of the original constitution, also known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.
Conclusively, it is evident that while the constitution seemed to guarantee freedom and liberty to the citizens of the United States in the Declaration of Independence, it did not seem to recognize the African Americans at that time. Furthermore, most of the founding fathers were slaveholders and did not insist on the abolition of the institution that was considered both immoral and criminal. However, the 13th Amendment has since helped in ensuring the abolition of slavery and guaranteeing equality is enshrined in the constitution.