There’s just no reason at all to think this. Most obviously, people who signed their names to the idea ‘all men were created equal’ while themselves owning slaves quite obviously did not possess a high degree of moral integrity.
could this have been a tree they planted knowing they would not live to see fruit?
could this have been a tree they planted knowing they would not live to see fruit?
That may explain why they didn’t abolish slavery, but does not justify the fact that they themselves owned slaves.