I totally disagree about the economic view. You sound like Charles Beard in a pessimistic mood. The Founding Fathers didn't want to get rid of their slaves is because they could not give up their services. It was a vice not a necessary evil as some would think. The Constitution is all about what the country is supposed to turn out as not what they wanted right then. They knew they weren't perfect, but people still deify them. They were hoping their children would finish the job. The labor was everywhere there were so many people without work that the veterans revolted when they couldn't pay their taxes. They had grown accustomed to slavery but were hoping the next generation would be better.