Simone Lawson
The United States Constitution's relationship with slavery is a complex one. The Constitution, drafted in 1787, never used the words slave or slavery but made four references to slavery and the slave trade. The founding fathers avoided the term because they believed slavery was morally wrong and would eventually die out. The Constitution included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population when apportioning representation, giving the South more representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The controversy over the Atlantic slave trade was settled with a compromise: a 20-year ban on restrictions in exchange for removing a clause restricting the national government's power. On the same day, the convention adopted the fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves. Slavery was a fiercely debated topic during the Constitutional Convention, with some founding fathers owning slaves and others advocating for abolition. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, officially abolished slavery in the United States, but the legacy of slavery continues to shape the nation's path forward.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The word "slave" avoided in the Constitution | The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, although slavery was a fiercely debated topic during the Constitutional Convention. |
| Indirect references to slavery | The Constitution had four clauses that indirectly addressed slavery and the slave trade: the Three-Fifths Compromise, the fugitive slave clause, the 20-year ban on restrictions of the Atlantic slave trade, and the Northwest Ordinance banning slavery in new western territories. |
| Compromises and debates | The Constitution was a compromise between delegates with differing views on slavery, with some seeking to protect slavery and others voicing objections. |
| Impact on political power | The Three-Fifths Compromise gave southern states with large slave populations additional political power and influenced the election of Supreme Court justices favorable to slavery. |
| Abolition | Slavery was officially abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865, following the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln in 1863. |
| Legacy and criticism | The Constitution's legacy regarding slavery is controversial, with some arguing it laid the foundation for future tragic events, while others contend it put slavery "in the course of ultimate extinction." |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The deadlock was resolved by the Connecticut, or Great, Compromise, which resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation of the states in the upper house. However, the issue of slavery remained unresolved. Some delegates from the Northern states sought to make representation dependent on the size of a state's free population. Southern delegates, on the other hand, threatened to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted.
Eventually, the framers agreed on a compromise that called for representation in the House of Representatives to be apportioned on the basis of a state’s free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. This agreement came to be known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. The three-fifths ratio was proposed by James Madison and was based on the idea that slaves were considered not just as property but also 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 Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. It required that a "Person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who escaped to another state be returned to their master in the state from which they fled. The clause was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, as part of a series of compromises between northern and southern delegates.
The exact wording of the clause is as follows:
> 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 Fugitive Slave Clause was unanimously approved by the Convention without further debate, despite objections from James Wilson and Roger Sherman, who argued that it would oblige state executives to seize fugitive slaves at public expense. The clause was also controversial because it did not use the words "slave" or "slavery", instead referring to slaves as "persons". This was a conscious decision by the framers, who wanted to avoid the moral stain of slavery on the document, as many of them believed that slavery was morally wrong and would eventually die out.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was enforced through legislation such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which was strengthened as part of the Compromise of 1850. The Supreme Court interpreted the clause as giving slave owners the right to seize and repossess their slaves in another state, and any state laws that penalised such seizures were deemed unconstitutional.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was effectively nullified by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery in 1865. The amendment stated that:
> Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
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Abolitionist criticism
The US Constitution was a document that sought to put ""slavery in the course of ultimate extinction", as Abraham Lincoln contended. However, this view is contested. Abolitionists in the 19th century, both black and white, waged a biracial assault against slavery, causing increasing friction between the North and the slave-owning South.
One of the most prominent abolitionists, William Lloyd Garrison, believed the Constitution to be a pro-slavery document from its inception. He once burned the document, calling it "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell". Garrison urged his readers to not vote, not to hold public office, and not to accept the authority of the US Constitution as long as slavery existed. He supported the North seceding from the South, believing that disunion would result in massive slave revolts in the South.
Garrison's views were not universally accepted, even among abolitionists. Frederick Douglass, another prominent abolitionist, disagreed with Garrison's interpretation of the Constitution. Douglass noted that the Constitution's "language is 'we the people'; not we the white people". He also pointed out that the framers had consciously avoided using the word "slave", recognising that it would sully the document.
The Constitution had four clauses that indirectly addressed slavery without using the term. One of these was the fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners. Another was the three-fifths clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population when apportioning representation, giving the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The abolitionist movement caused a rift in the country, with supporters and critics engaging in heated debates and even violent confrontations. The controversy over the Constitution's stance on slavery remains a subject of debate today, with Americans holding differing interpretations of the document's meaning.
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The Civil War
The American Civil War was the culmination of a series of confrontations concerning the institution of slavery. The primary catalyst for secession was slavery, and the war's central issue was the emancipation of slaves in the South. In the years leading up to the war, there were several key events that intensified debates around slavery and laid the groundwork for the Civil War. These included the Missouri Compromise, the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott Decision, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
The Missouri Compromise in 1820 was a series of agreements reached by Congress to address the issue of slavery in the new western territories acquired after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Missouri was admitted as a slave state, while Maine entered the Union as a free state, preserving the balance in Congress. A line was drawn along the 36°30' parallel, dividing the territories north and south as free and slave states.
The Wilmot Proviso was a piece of legislation proposed by David Wilmot that aimed to outlaw slavery in any territory acquired from the Mexican-American War, including parts of the Southwest and California. Despite failing to pass, the intense debate around the Wilmot Proviso further strained national relations and prompted discussions of secession.
The Compromise of 1850 was an attempt to address the issue of slavery in the newly acquired territories after the Mexican-American War. It included provisions such as the Fugitive Slave Act, which required the return of escaped slaves to their owners, and the California Compromise, which admitted California as a free state.
The Dred Scott Decision was a Supreme Court ruling that threatened to recast the political landscape. The Court classified slaves as property, making the federal government's authority to regulate slavery ambiguous. This emboldened Southerners to challenge the agreed-upon territorial limitations on slavery, further polarizing the nation.
The Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 brought the issue of slavery to the forefront of national politics. Abraham Lincoln, a relatively unknown former congressman, challenged Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat in Illinois. During their debates, they discussed slavery, propelling Lincoln to the national spotlight and ultimately leading to his nomination for president in 1860.
During the Civil War, slavery underwent significant changes, especially in the South as Union Armies took control of vast areas. Enslaved people played an active role in their emancipation, and thousands escaped bondage. The value of enslaved people fluctuated during the war, with prices increasing in areas like Richmond and Texas. However, as the war progressed, slave owners recognized the likelihood of slavery's end and increased their attempts to sell enslaved people. Cultural expression and Christianity grew among enslaved people during and after the war. The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) established a strong presence among enslaved and freed individuals, providing chaplains for black Union regiments. Music also played a significant role, with spirituals sung by blacks emphasizing the theme of freedom and the rejection of slavery.
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The 13th Amendment
> "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
The amendment was the culmination of a long and contentious history of slavery in the United States, dating back to the country's founding. The Constitution, ratified in 1787, obliquely referred to slavery without using the words "slave" or "slavery," indicating the Framers' embarrassment and moral qualms about the institution. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, referenced how enslaved persons would be regarded by the federal government in terms of representation.
The amendment's passage was not without challenges. While the Senate passed it in April 1864, the House initially did not. It was only on January 31, 1865, that Congress passed the amendment, and it was ratified by the required number of states (twenty-seven out of thirty-three) on December 6, 1865. Unfortunately, President Lincoln did not live to see the ratification, as he was assassinated just days after the Civil War ended. Nonetheless, the 13th Amendment stands as a pivotal moment in American history, forever banning chattel slavery and expanding civil rights for Americans.
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Frequently asked questions
The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed by Congress and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, declaring that all persons held as slaves in the rebelling Confederate States would be "forever free." Lincoln also pushed for the passage of the 13th Amendment to ensure the abolition of slavery in all of the U.S.
The U.S. Constitution, drafted in 1787, did not explicitly use the words "slave" or "slavery." However, it included four clauses that indirectly addressed slavery and protected the institution. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, gave the South extra representation in the House based on their slave population.
Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention, including slaveholders, expressed moral qualms about slavery. Luther Martin of Maryland argued that slavery was "inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution" and dishonorable to the American character.
The framers of the Constitution allowed slavery to continue and even protected it through various clauses. This led to decades of suffering for enslaved people and political power struggles that eventually culminated in the Civil War. The legacy of slavery continued long after its abolition, with issues like segregation and racial inequality persisting.
