Originally Posted by willravel

I'm familiar with all amendments. the 13th was ratified in 1865. Before then? Yeah, it would have been legal for me to own a black guy. So from 1787 to 1865, those 98 or so years, my right to own slaves would have been Constitutionally kosher (so long as he or she was black). Despite the clear declaration of conscience, in the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal, I could have had some poor soul picking fruit in my back yard for nothing.

The Constitution was written by men. All men are flawed. The Amendments are written by men. All men are flawed. Pretending that the Constitution or even BOR are perfect is ludicrous. We do our best to make it as fair as possible, OF COURSE, but blind adherence to the documents as gospel truth doesn't make one a patriot, it makes one a zealot.