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FREEING slaves is an unpopular business. Arguably, taking a stand against slavery cost Abraham Lincoln his life. When Spartacus and his gang of escaped gladiators threatened to free large numbers of slaves, the entire might of ancient Rome’s brutal killing machine was unleashed against them. Thousands were crucified along the road leading towards Rome from the south.
It is a matter of astonishment and outrage to us now that after the ending of slavery in the British colonies early in the nineteenth century, government compensation was paid, not to those who had been deprived of their liberty, but to those whose “property interests” had been damaged by freeing the slaves.