Joseph Ellis' "The Silence" Presis
?The Silence? Questions By Joseph J. Ellis Taken From Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation THESIS OF THE ARTICLE: In the early years of the country, the government remained silent over the slavery question. But then on February 11, 1790, two Quaker delegates stormed Congress with a petition to end the African slave trade. The antislavery North used republican values to support their view, while the proslavery South looked to the Constitution and the Bible to protect its establishment. And thus the congressional debate over slavery began, and quickly ended in an effort to avoid friction in the Union. SALIENT POINTS OF READING INTEREST: