Speaker's Forum At Claremont Ucc

The Declaration of Independence is often thought of as a key moment of freedom's expression in world history.  At the same time, scholars have long debated the paradox of such a proclamation of freedom while so many Americans remained enslaved.  Join Dr. Daniel Livesay of Claremont McKenna as he discusses some of the various defenses of slavery in 1776. In particular, the supposed need for slave owners not to emancipate their elderly workers, who were claimed to be too vulnerable without masters.  He will argue that old age was a critical variable in the debates around slavery, and its continuation in the young United States.