Nothing is proved by the expectation of some Northerners that the clause would eventually put an end to slavery, for there was widespread confusion o… - David Brion Davis

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Nothing is proved by the expectation of some Northerners that the clause would eventually put an end to slavery, for there was widespread confusion of "slavery" with the "slave trade." Both American and British abolitionists assumed that an end to slave imports would lead automatically to the amelioration and gradual abolition of slavery.