Congress, thus, followed up its work on the Bill of Rights with a heated debate about the ongoing existence of slavery and by passing two new, important laws. First, there was a petition crafted by Pennsylvania Quakers, signed by the revered but dying Benjamin Franklin, and introduced by the Speaker of the House “calling for a national commitment” to end slavery. It landed like a stick of dynamite among the solons. Some legislators tried to just snuff out the flame, hoping that no one would see the “explosive” issue of slavery smoldering in a House of Representatives built on the three-fifths
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