“All good men wish the entire abolition of slavery, as soon as it can take place with safety to the public, and for the lasting good of the present wretched race of slaves. The only possible step that could be taken towards it by the convention was to fix a period after which they should not be imported.” – Oliver Ellsworth.

Those who seek reparations do so acting as though the fight South spoke of gradualism in this. While all of good conscience agreed on freedom and equality at birth, what was also recognized were the slave rebellions that naturally had occurred and fear of what to do most safely. This isn’t to justify how long the institution lasted. It is to say the concept of reparations ignores that we as a nation were attempting to find an answer from the beginning. Compromises were made, and we all know that led to the Civil War to end this controversy once and forever at a tremendous cost, including to ancestors of mine.