And shall we at last become the victims of our own abominable lust of gain? Forbid it, Heaven." Washington himself could be a hard driving businessman, yet he found the rapacity of many vendors unconscionable. As he told George Mason, he thought it the intent of the speculators, various tribes of money makers and stock jobbers of all denominations, to continue the war for their own private emolument, without considering that their avarice and thirst for gain must plunge everything in one common ruin. Ron Chernow
About This Quote

George Mason, who was the only delegate to the Constitutional Convention that never owned slaves, was appalled by the greed of the delegates. He wrote that they thought that "their avarice and thirst for gain must plunge everything in one common ruin." The delegates were so focused on making money that they ignored the moral issues surrounding slavery.

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