Creating the United States

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The Contradiction of Slavery in a Free Nation

The Contradiction of Slavery in a Free Nation (16.1)

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At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, James Madison confronted the contradiction of slavery in a free nation when his slave Billey ran away in Philadelphia and refused to return to Virginia. Madison sold Billey into service for seven years, the maximum allowed in Pennsylvania, where upon he would be a free man.
At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, James Madison confronted the contradiction of slavery in a free nation when his slave Billey ran away in Philadelphia and refused to return to Virginia. Madison sold Billey into service for seven years, the maximum allowed in Pennsylvania, where upon he would be a free man.