[Teacher317]

The remarkable thing is that we chose, as a nation, to buck that conditioning and reject slavery as a moral wrong. On a national scale, it is a one-of-a-kind achievement,

Ummm, not it isn't. On top of that, we weren't the first... or even close.

Denmark was the first European country to ban slavery. In 1807 Britain declared the slave trade to be illegal. Sweden in 1813, The Netherlands in 1814, France in 1815, Spain in 1820.

(Another interesting ntoe: Between 1811 and 1870, 60 percent of African slaves were transported to Brazil, 32 percent to Cuba, and 3 percent to the US... although many that arrived in Cuba went next to the US.)

[hlmencken3]

U.S. officially banned the importation of slaves in 1807 too.

[Springfield Reformer]

Hmmm, you are right.  Apparently that pot had been bubbling for a long time in a lot of different places.  See here for even more than what you listed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline

Yes, I know it's Wikipedia, but it is the most complete timeline on slavery I have found so far.

However, having said that, it is still a good thing we did act to repudiate slavery in law and in principle, and we should still be celebrating that we did so.  Is the job done?  No, we still have a long way to go.  But we do have to be realistic in identifying root cause(s) of the problem.  

Peace,

SR