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[B]lacks definitely were part of "we the people" who made the Constitution of 1787.

— Thomas G. West Vindicating the Founders (2001)

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More quotes by Thomas G. West

What defines a people is not race, not tradition, not geography, but the free choice of a group of human beings to live together as fellow citizens.

Vindicating the Founders (2001)

All the leading Founders affirmed on many occasions that blacks are created equal to whites and that slavery is wrong.

Most of the Constitution's Framers knew, and many said, that slavery was wrong.

Vindicating the Founders (2001)

When the decision was finally made to accept blacks as full citizens, the founders' principles provided the theoretical foundation. Lincoln's revival of the declaration in the 1850s had prepared the way. In principle, people of all races can become citizens of a nation based on the idea that "all men are created equal".

Vindicating the Founders (2001)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas G. West (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.