[BroJoeK]

jeffersondem: "I doubt slavery would have been enshrined - er, I mean included - at all if it had not been in the economic and political best self-interest of those voting yea."

Southerners insisted on protecting slavery, however obliquely mentioned, and Northerners reluctantly agreed.
That pattern of behavior continued until 1861 in the Union, until 1865 in the Confederacy.

[jeffersondem]

“Southerners insisted on protecting slavery, however obliquely mentioned, and Northerners reluctantly agreed.”

Is that the official explanation on the plaque at 75 Wall Street between Pine and Waters Streets - the generally accepted site of New York’s slave auction block?

Or is that beautifully exculpatory statement something you just made up?

If it is the latter, you should tack on: “Once understood many years later, northern slave states denounced the terms “all other Persons” and “such persons” and “held to Service” in the strongest possible terms!