>But by the mid-18th century there was a sufficient body of
>opinion condemning slavery as such as to undercut any and
>all excuses for its defenders. Samuel Johnson once made a
>toast to the next Negro Insurrection in the West Indies. He
>also opposed granting independence to the American
>Colonies on the basis that slave-drivers weren't fit to be
>free themselves. I think all slaveowners and defenders of
>slavery from 1776 on can be condemned as showing bad
>faith. And I think that bad faith predominates over or
>corrupts whatever other virtues may be claimed for them.
I doubt that this body of opinion was sufficient to lay down categorical condemnations based on the 1776 date as you have done above.
See http://www.eh.net/Archives/eh.res/may-1998/0014.html
I've read that globally, slavery didn't end until the early 20th century, when it was finally outlawed on the Arabian peninsula.
Reese