Welcome to the American Story.

Stories about all the things that make America the country we know and love.

The place of slavery in the American

history is one of the great and enduring questions of American history.

My old friend Thomas West, professor of politics at Hillsdale College,

has a chapter on the theme in his excellent book, vindicating the founders.

It is the best brief reflection I know of on the subject and well worth reading.

This is one of three stories that is greatly indebted to it.

Any errors that slip in are of course exclusively my own.

This is Chris Flannery with the Claremont Institute.

I call this one anti-slavery declaration.

On June 7th 1776, Richard Henry Leah of Virginia

rose in the Philadelphia State House to put forward to the representatives

of the United Colonies of America in general Congress assembled a resolution for independence.

Resolved that these united colonies are and of right ought to be,

free and independent states,

that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown

and that all political connection between them and the state

of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved.

In discussions over the succeeding days, the resolution failed to win unanimous approval.

But circumstances were changing rapidly,

so Congress delayed consideration until July 1st,

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