After 12 years as a justice on the Court of Appeals, Tucker wrote "A Dissertation on Slavery: With a Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of it, in the State of Virginia" to the General Assembly of Virginia. It was appended to his edition of 'Blackstone's Commentaries and was first published as a pamphlet in 1796. He said that the abolition of slavery was of "great importance for the moral character of the citizens of Virginia."
He criticized slavery:
"Whilst America hath been the land of promise to Europeans and their descendants, it hath been the vale of death to millions of the wretched sons of Africa
Whilst we were offering up vows at the shrine of Liberty... whilst we swore irreconcilable hostility to her enemies... whilst we adjured the God of Hosts to witness our resolution to live free or die; we were imposing on our fellow men, who differ from us in complexion, a slavery ten thousand times more cruel than the utmost extremity of those grievances and oppressions, of which we complained."[5]
"Civil rights, as we may remember, are reducible to three primary heads; the right of personal security; the right of personal liberty; and the right of private property. In a state of slavery, the last two are wholly abolished, the person of the slave being at the absolute disposal of his master; and property, what he is incapable, in that state, either of acquiring , or holding, in his own use. Hence, it will appear how perfectly irreconcilable a state of slavery is to the principles of a democracy, which form the basis and foundation of our government "[6]
Tucker proposed the gradual emancipation of slaves, a process that other states, such as New York, implemented in the late eighteenth century.[7] Given the power of the Virginia's elite planter society, Tucker thought there was little chance of abolishing slavery outright in the state. Nevertheless, he proposed the manumission of "every female born after the adoption of the plan . . . and transmit freedom to all her descendants, both male and female." [8] Using census figures, Tucker notes that at the time of his writing, Virginia, alone, had more "free negroes and mulattoes . . . than are to be found in the four New England states, and Vermont [where gradual emancipation plans had already commenced]." [9]
Perhaps the most important things about Tucker's essay on slavery, in the present day, is that it shows the potential, in the South, for constructively confronting the most difficult of social issues and it demonstrates that Tucker's states rights understanding of the Constitution is not a mere rationalization in defense of slavery. [10]
