Founding Brothers Pros And Cons

The topic of slavery was very controversial in chapter three of Founding Brothers. With most controversial topics there are different sides and different arguments in favor of one's side. These different arguments lead to debates. It all began when two Quaker delegations, one being from New York and the other from Philadelphia presented petitions to the House which called for the federal government to end the African slave trade. The North and South disagreed on many things, but slavery was one of the bigger things if not the biggest. These petitions were immediately met with denouncement by southern representatives. James Jackson from Georgia was angry that a petition like this would even be taken in thought in any serious discussion. He

The petitions are somewhat in vain because of the recent ratification of legislation that prohibits Congress from abolishing or restricting the slave trade in any way until 1808. Although that is good for the southern states, Jackson wasn't going to feel any better about petitions against the slave trade just from that protection. Jackson knew that this was probably just the beginning and the end goal was probably going to be to end slavery as a whole. The next day proved that Jackson's thought was correct when another petition arrived in the House and it was from the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Instead of asking for a stop to the African slave trade it asked for a stop to slavery

One argument was that slavery didn't reflect the values that the American Revolution was fought for. Secondly, it went after the legislation that prevented any laws abolishing or restricting the slave trade until a certain time, saying that the "general welfare" clause gives Congress the power to take action where it is needed and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society feels that action is needed now. The signature that was on the petition changed the seriousness of it. The signature was Benjamin Franklin's. Franklin's support of the petition meant the usual looking and tossing petitions to the side regarding slavery wasn't going to work this time around. Not only did representatives from South Carolina not like the petition, but they also didn't like the suggestion of it being read in Congress. Aedanus Burke, a representative from South Carolina, said that the petitioners were" blowing the trumpet of sedition." That means that what the petitioners are saying is going to cause people to go against the rules that the Constitution has set up. That is chaos, something that no one wants. James Jackson also heard it, but for him it was the "trumpet of civil war." This means that petition would cause so much disagreement that a civil war would breakout. Soon after they received the petition with Benjamin Franklin's signature, a debate occurred on the topic of slavery because the Constitution said no law