Proposal outlawing slavery again to appear on Vermont’s general election ballot

By Brent Addleman | The Center Square

Voters in The Green Mountain State will decide if the state’s Constitution is amended.

Gov. Phil Scott announced that Constitutional Amendment Proposal 2 will appear on November’s general election ballot. The proposal, if ratified by voters, would amend the state’s Constitution to read that all people are born free and that slavery and indentured servitude are illegal.

Public domain

The Old Constitution House, located on North Main Street in Windsor, is the birthplace of the Vermont Republic and the Constitution of the State of Vermont.

The proposal came via the General Assembly and would amend Article I of Chapter I of the Constitution to read, “All persons born free; their natural rights; slavery and indentured servitude prohibited.”

“Vermont is proud to have been the first state in the Union to outlaw slavery in its constitution, but this proposal to clarify the antiquated language is meaningful as well,” Scott said in the release. “We have come a long way since those words were originally written, but we know there is much more work to do.”

According to the release, the Constitution would read, if the proposal is ratified, “That all persons are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, amongst which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety; therefore no person born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person as a servant, slave or apprentice, after arriving to the age of twenty-one years, unless bound by the person’s own consent, after arriving to such age, or bound by law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like slavery and indentured servitude in any form are prohibited.”

According to the release, to amend the state’s Constitution, the Senate needs a two-thirds vote to send the proposal to the House of Representatives. The House needs a simple majority vote to push the proposal to the next biennial session of the General Assembly.

Then, the House and Senate must reach a simple majority to push the issue to the general election where voters make the final decision.

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11 thoughts on “Proposal outlawing slavery again to appear on Vermont’s general election ballot

  1. We’re ALL now today Tax Slaves.. we are allowed to free range on our land- as long as we keep paying the taxes on it.

  2. Hey, don’t ya’ll get it? Legislature does this salvery stuff because it is all about……”feelings”…making them “feel” better. Liberalism is all about “feelings”. So I’m surprised it took this long – to get this “feeling”. Just look at another law in VT….they banned fracking years ago. It made them “feel” better…even though there is no oil and gas in Vermont to “frack”…VT now “feels” better….Their widespread haughty superiority, reigns in their uninformed, groupthink minds, over the states that allow it. But imagine that….enacting BAN in VT – on something that doesn’t exist – in VT…NOW THAT’s a Legislature for you 🙂

  3. So why did a bunch of leftist haters include the words obtaining happiness which
    haters will never obtain. Can they now sue the government ’cause they can’t get
    their happy on??? And the safety should exclude any gun restrictions being placed
    on Vermonters.. Or just leave it alone as the older folks who wrote it knew more than
    any leftist commie circle jerk will ever know..

  4. Simply ridiculous. Just like the Prop 5/Article 22 language. The legislature and the guv should be embarrassed. Clean house on Nov. 8th!

  5. This is one ridiculous piece of proposed legislation for the state’s representatives to be working on. With all the difficulties that Vermonters are struggling with, changing the Vermont constitution to outlaw slavery in 2022 or 2023 is pure political BS. I’d rather see the tax money that would be spent on furthering this drivel be used to fill some dangerous potholes…

    • perfectly said Mark…….unbelievable to make this change to the long winded version…..its fine the way it is now; end of story. what we should tout loudly to every damn progressive idea is the part that Vermont was the FIRST state to outlaw Slavery……..Thats one for the common sense factor of our Original Gov……..when they worked for the people!

  6. What a crock of Sht, there ” may ” have been slaves in Vermont, but that was hundreds of
    years ago, and if these people were slaves, they are turning over in their graves, as they
    endured all the pain and humiliation to watch this generation wanting what ??

    Oh yeah, some sort of reparation…………………… Give me a break, the only slaves I see in
    Vermont today are the over-taxed citizens !!

  7. Mmmm I was born and raised in Vermont and NEVER saw any slaves in Vermont unless you count my parents as slave owner’s. I mean geee I had to wash dishes, clean my room, help around the house and when I was old enough watch my sister’s… Can I be counted as a slave????? OH OH they also made me get a job when I wanted a bike, or records how dare they !!!! I was a slave and didn’t know it…

    • Good one Donna…..geez made me think of growing up on small dairy, milking cows am/pm, fences, gardens and hay all summer long……watched meteors and lightening bugs alot!! we seldom went to town unless needing sugar and salt…..
      and our first shower…….was in the milkhouse when my older sister (the beauty!) was a teen ..oh maybe 15, and me 2 yrs the jr (and not the beauty!!) absolutely refused to continue morning chores unless….we had a shower!! so my dad made one in the milkhouse; the first blow dryer …a salamander heater that threw fire……we took great care to not get too close!!
      fond memories for sure!!

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