Bobert--

As Mick said, I know you're a good man and your heart is definitely in the right place. And, as I said, obviously Jim Crow, KKk, lynchings, etc. were abominations--but continued slavery would have been all that and more--and, under your system, totally legal.

Sure there were some masters who treated their slaves well and there were some slaves devoted to their masters--e.g. one of Stonewall Jackson's slaves followed him through his campaigns. As you know ,slavery was not the same everywhere--by and large much worse in the deep South than further north--I understand that's what Stephen Foster's much-maligned My Old Kentucky Home recognized--check the last verse. Field slaves had it much worse than house slaves (in general).

Southern apologists found justification in the Bible and talked of Northern "wage slavery" as worse. That doesn't fly--I'm sure you know why.

All slavery means absolute power for the master. Why should any person have absolute power over any other?

Maybe you've been through boot camp. If so, somebody had power over you. And obviously that's not absolute power.

The sooner slavery ended, the better.