According to historian Alexander Tsesis, the antislavery movement was not a product of the Revolution. Nonetheless, the revolutionary ideology provided inspiration for Black activists who fought against hereditary bondage. The Declaration of Independence became a crucial reference point and a revered document for opponents of slavery, as stated by historian David Brion Davis.
One example of this utilization of the Declaration occurred in 1776 with Lemuel Haynes, a free Black Congregational minister in Vermont, who published a pamphlet titled “Liberty Further Extended: Or Free Thoughts on the Illegality of Slave-Keeping.” In this pamphlet, Haynes quoted the Declaration of Independence and invoked the language of natural rights to argue for the undeniable right of Africans to their freedom.
In 1781, an anonymous author, referred to as a “black Whig,” echoed the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence in “Sermon on the Present Situation of the Affairs of America and Great Britain.” He emphasized that liberty is second only to life and urged the American revolutionaries to extend their fight for freedom to the emancipation of slaves.
White abolitionists and other opponents of slavery also relied on the Declaration of Independence in their legal and rhetorical campaigns against human bondage. A pseudonymous author known as Crito pointed out that the language of the Declaration, declaring all men to be created equal, was repeatedly affirmed in Congress and by other public bodies. He argued that Africans and enslaved Black individuals were just as entitled to these rights, asserting that denying them these inherent rights was a contradictory and immoral act.
In summary, the Declaration of Independence served as a powerful tool for the antislavery movement and its supporters, providing an ideological foundation for calls to abolish slavery and extend liberty to all individuals, regardless of their race or status.
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