Rev. Alexander McLeod penned the following words in a chilling cry of exhortation to his church and the nation in his 1802 work, Negro Slavery Unjustifiable: A Discourse:

The toleration of slavery is a national evil. It is the worst of robberies sanctioned by law. It >>is treason against Heaven—a conspiracy against the liberties of his subjects. If the Judge >>of all the earth shall do right, he cannot but punish the guilty.

Nations, as such, have no existence in a future state: they must expect national judgments >>in the present.…O America, what hast thou to account for on the head of slavery!…Thou >>hast made provision for increasing the number and continuing the bondage of thy slaves. >>Thy judgments may tarry, but they will assuredly come.

Six decades later, President Abraham Lincoln intimated such divine judgment on the country for the slave industry in his second ...