Eleanor Finch
The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, had a complex relationship with slavery. While the word slave does not appear in the document, the Constitution included several clauses that indirectly addressed slavery and the slave trade. One of the most notable was the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population when apportioning representation, giving the Southern states more power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The Constitution also included a fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners, and prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years, until 1808. The framers of the Constitution believed that these concessions were necessary to gain the support of Southern delegates and prevent a split between free and slave states. While some delegates expressed moral qualms about slavery, the economic interests of slave-holding states influenced the Constitution's ambiguous stance on the issue.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The Constitution prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for | 20 years |
| The Constitution included a fugitive slave clause | Runaway slaves had to be returned to their owners |
| The Constitution gave the federal government the power to | Put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections |
| The Three-fifths Compromise | Thomas Jefferson would have lost the election of 1800 without it |
| The Constitution avoided using the word "slavery" | The framers believed that slavery was morally wrong and would die out, and they did not want that permanent moral stain on the document |
| The Constitution indirectly addressed slavery | Four clauses referred to the slave trade without using the term |
| The Slave Trade Act 1807 | Prohibited the Atlantic slave trade in the British Empire |
| The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves | Passed in 1807/1808, it provided for the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade but did not alter the internal trade in slaves |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The Southern slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. The free states in the North wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since those slaves had no voting rights. A compromise was struck to resolve this impasse. The agreement, known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. This effectively gave the Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states.
The three-fifths ratio was proposed by James Madison, who explained the reasoning behind the fraction in "The Apportionment of Members Among the States" (February 12, 1788):
> We subscribe to the doctrine, might one of our Southern brethren observe, "that representation relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our slaves. But we must deny the fact, that slaves are considered merely as property, and in no respect whatever as persons."
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Fugitive slave clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was a provision in the US Constitution that required runaway slaves to be returned to their masters. This clause, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3, states:
> No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
The clause was a compromise between Northern and Southern states, and an attempt to balance their differing views on slavery. By the late 18th century, many Northern states had outlawed slavery, while it remained a way of life in the South. The Fugitive Slave Clause gave slaveholders the constitutional right to reclaim their "property" from another state.
The clause was enacted without much debate or discussion, despite the controversy surrounding the issue of slavery more broadly. Notably, the words "'slave' and 'slavery' are not mentioned in the clause, nor in any other references to slavery in the Constitution. This was likely a deliberate choice by the framers, who may have wanted to avoid explicitly recognising slavery under federal law.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was effectively nullified by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. However, it is still part of the Constitution and continues to hold cultural and political relevance in discussions around the morality of the slave trade.
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Slave insurrections
The Constitution gave the federal government the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections. The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. They were convinced that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, southern states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union.
Slave rebellions and resistance were means of opposing the system of chattel slavery in the United States. There were many ways that slaves would either openly rebel or quietly resist due to the oppressive systems of slavery. According to Herbert Aptheker, there were few phases of antebellum Southern life that were not influenced by the fear of slave rebellions or the actual outbreak of militant concerted slave action. Slave rebellions in the United States were often small and diffuse compared to those in other slave economies. This was due to the conditions that tipped the balance of power against southern slaves, such as their numerical disadvantage, creole composition, and dispersal in relatively small units among resident whites.
Confrontation in the Old South often took the form of an individual slave's open resistance to plantation authorities or other individual or small-group actions, such as slaves killing slave traders to avoid forced migration away from friends and family. Slave rebellions could also be empowered by slaves secretly learning to read and write, communicating important information through songs and prayer, stealing food to feed their families, or building back doors into their dwellings. Arson was also a frequent but often overlooked form of resistance among enslaved people.
Some slaves would practice petit marronage, escaping their oppressive overseers for a short time to take a break from their labor and disrupt the means of production of the plantations. During this time, they would connect with others, escape incoming sale or mistreatment, and organize for a rebellion. The Great Dismal Swamp, located in Virginia and North Carolina, was one prominent place where slaves would go to hide from plantation owners, militia, and dogs. In the swamp, fugitives could take refuge and make self-sustained communities, fishing, farming, hunting, and trading.
There were also several notable slave rebellions and insurrections in the United States. The 1811 German Coast Uprising was the largest slave uprising in the United States, taking place in present-day Louisiana. In 1831, Nat Turner led a rebellion that killed 55 men, women, and children in Virginia. Other major slave rebellions include the 1795 Curaçao slave revolt led by Tula, the 1795 insurrection in Venezuela led by José Leonardo Chirino, the 1816 Barbados revolt led by Bussa, and the 1795 Demerara Rebellion in Guyana.
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Popular support for abolition
The slave trade was a major component of the economy and society in the United States when the Constitution was drafted in 1787. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention fiercely debated the issue of slavery, and ultimately agreed that the United States would potentially cease the importation of slaves in 1808. This compromise allowed for a 20-year ban on any restrictions on the Atlantic slave trade, in exchange for the removal of a clause restricting the national government's power.
During the 20-year period between the adoption of the Constitution and 1808, popular support for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself increased in the United States and other countries. The campaign to abolish slavery in Britain, for example, began in the 1760s and gained momentum in the late 18th century, with the work of famous campaigners and formerly enslaved people living in London. One of the key events in the British abolition movement was a rebellion on the island of Haiti. The frequent rebellions by enslaved Africans and evidence of the appalling conditions they endured during and after transportation contributed to growing support for the demands to abolish the slave trade.
In the United States, Pennsylvania and Vermont were the first states to abolish slavery, in 1780 and 1777, respectively. By 1804, all northern states had abolished slavery. The increasing international pressure on the United States to curb the practice of slavery also played a role in building popular support for abolition. The United Kingdom and other countries passed legislation restricting the slave trade, and in 1800, an act of Congress made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations.
The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, and the framers consciously avoided using the word "slavery," recognizing that it would sully the document. However, slavery received important protections in the Constitution, such as the Three-fifths Compromise, which gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The controversy over the Atlantic slave trade and the role of slavery in the Constitution reflect a compromise between Northern and Southern states that was essential to the formation of the Union. While the Constitution temporarily strengthened slavery, it also created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish the institution.
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Avoiding the word 'slavery'
The US Constitution, drafted in 1787, included four clauses that pertained to slavery without directly referencing the term or the word "slave". The "Importation of Persons Clause", or Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, stated that Congress could not prohibit the "importation" of persons prior to 1808. This clause was included to protect the institution of slavery, which was a major component of the US economy and society at the time. The omission of the word "slave" from the Constitution was likely intentional, as the framers recognised that it would sully the document and wanted to avoid a permanent moral stain.
The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. They were convinced that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union. By sidestepping the issue, the framers left the seeds for future conflict. Many of the framers harboured moral qualms about slavery and some, including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, became members of anti-slavery societies.
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates fiercely debated the issue of slavery. They ultimately agreed that the United States would potentially cease the importation of slaves in 1808. An act of Congress passed in 1800 made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, and authorised the seizure of slave ships and their cargo. The "Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves" took effect in 1807 or 1808, imposing heavy penalties on international traders. However, it did not end slavery or the domestic sale of slaves, and the interstate sale of slaves remained legal.
In the two decades between the adoption of the Constitution and 1808, popular support for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself increased in the US and other countries. Several countries passed legislation restricting the slave trade, increasing international pressure on the US to curb the practice. The omission of the word "slavery" from the Constitution reflected a compromise between Northern and Southern states that was essential for the formation of the Union, but ultimately unsustainable, as demonstrated by the Civil War.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement that three-fifths of a state’s slave population would be counted when apportioning representation. This gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution as the framers consciously avoided the word, recognising that it would sully the document. The framers believed that slavery was morally wrong and would die out, and they did not want a permanent moral stain on the document.
Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution stated that Congress could not prohibit the "importation" of persons prior to 1808. This clause was no longer relevant after 1808, when the Act "to prohibit the importation of slaves" was passed.
