On the current podcast at Liberty Law Talk, I discuss with Gordon Lloyd the problem of slavery and the ratification of the Constitution. Much of the interview considers the historical scholarship that argues the Constitution is fundamentally compromised because of the protections it afforded slavery. Lloyd, however, provides interesting evidence from the Constitutional Convention and the state constitutional ratifying conventions that disputes the view that the “Constitution is a pact with the devil.” We also consider the underpinnings of the Dred Scott decision and the Missouri Compromise.
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