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How was the existence of slavery in a nation established to preserve liberty hypocritical?

The Declaration of Independence contains the claim that "all men are created equal [and] endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." The existence of slavery, which legally allowed for slaves to be the property of slaveowners, showed how unequally these rights were applied. Slaves lacked liberty and personal autonomy and experienced violent abuse in order to enforce the will of slaveowners. The slave code, or set of laws governing relationships between slaves and slaveowners, even conceded that the definition of "slave" is "a human being, who is by law deprived of his or her liberty for life, and is the property of another." The United States, a nation established to protect liberty and human rights, was proved hypocritical through the existence of slavery. The rights claimed in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were deprived to slaves on the basis of race.

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