 it would not have been ratified. Had it not been ratified, another constitutional arrangement, which would have been much more favorable to slavery, would have taken place. So from that point of view, I would say the founders are not to be punished, but are not to be held accountable. But Lincoln quoted both the Old and New Testaments, that woe unto the world because of offenses. It must needs be that the offenses come, but woe unto that man