Isabella Carter
The original US Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, did not contain the words slave or slavery but addressed American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in others. The issue of slavery may have played a role in the omission of a bill of rights in the original document. The three-fifths clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population for representation, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. The controversy over the Atlantic slave trade was settled by a compromise that banned restrictions on the trade for 20 years in exchange for removing a clause restricting the national government's power to enact laws requiring goods to be shipped on American vessels. The same day, the convention also adopted the fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the US, except as punishment for a crime.
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population. This count was used to determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would be allocated, and the amount of money the states would pay in taxes. Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. On the other hand, free states wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, as those slaves had no voting rights. This compromise effectively gave Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise has been interpreted in different ways throughout history. Some have argued that it implicitly protected slavery by giving Southern states extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. This interpretation suggests that the Three-Fifths Compromise was a "pro-slavery" provision in the Constitution. However, others have argued that the compromise encouraged freedom by giving an increase in political power to free over slave states.
The word "slave" is notably absent from the text of the Constitution, with the Three-Fifths Compromise referring to "all other Persons" instead. This deliberate choice of language reflects the conflicted stance of the framers towards slavery. While some framers owned slaves, others had moral qualms about the institution. The omission of the word "slave" and the use of indirect language in the Three-Fifths Compromise demonstrate the framers' attempts to navigate the complex issue of slavery while crafting a document that sought to protect the rights of all Americans.
In 1868, Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment superseded Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and explicitly repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise. This amendment marked a significant step towards addressing the issue of slavery and representation in the United States Constitution.
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Fugitive Slave Clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, is Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. It requires a "person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who escapes to another state to be returned to their master in the state from which they fled. The clause was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and remained in effect until the abolition of slavery under the Thirteenth Amendment, which rendered it mostly irrelevant or moot.
The Fugitive Slave Clause gave slaveholders the constitutional right to recover their "property", an enslaved person, from another state. The clause was a compromise between the Northern and Southern states, as slavery was not allowed in most Northern states, while it was a way of life in the South. The clause 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 Fugitive Slave Clause was the basis for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which gave slaveholders the right to capture their escaped slaves. The Act was strengthened as part of the Compromise of 1850, which required that slaves be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state. The federal government was made responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 caused outrage, and an effort to repeal the Fugitive Slave Clause in 1864, during the Civil War, failed.
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Abolitionist opposition
The US Constitution, which came into effect in 1789, did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in other parts of the document. The word "people" in the phrase "We the people" was interpreted differently by different people. Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said that the Constitution was "defective from the start" because it left out a majority of Americans with its use of the phrase "We the people".
The 1787 Constitutional Convention saw a bitter debate break out over a South Carolina proposal to prohibit the federal government from regulating the Atlantic slave trade. Luther Martin of Maryland, a slaveholder, argued that the slave trade should be subject to federal regulation since the nation would be responsible for suppressing slave revolts. He also considered the slave trade contrary to America's republican ideals, stating that it was "inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution". The controversy over the Atlantic slave trade was ultimately settled by compromise. In exchange for a 20-year ban on any restrictions on the Atlantic slave trade, southern delegates agreed to remove a clause restricting the national government's power to enact laws requiring goods to be shipped on American vessels.
The Constitution also implicitly protected slavery by prohibiting federal interference with the international slave trade for at least 20 years and requiring states to return fugitive slaves. These measures ensured that slavery remained a national issue, embedding it deeper into the fabric of American governance. The three-fifths clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning representation, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The status of slavery in the United States was a highly contested issue, with disputes arising over constitutional principles that were not explicitly stated in the Constitution. For example, the Constitution did not state that Congress could not "interfere" with slavery or abolition in a state, yet it was widely agreed that it could not. Similarly, the Constitution did not expressly recognize a right of "property in man".
The question of whether the Constitution was pro-slavery or anti-slavery has been a subject of controversy. Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, who burned the document in 1854, and Frederick Douglass, who gave a speech on the topic in 1860, argued that the Constitution was a pro-slavery document. On the other hand, others have argued that the Constitution was anti-slavery. Abraham Lincoln contended that the Constitution put slavery "in the course of ultimate extinction". James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution", attacked slavery early in the Convention, stating that "the mere distinction of colour... [has been] a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man".
The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, passed on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.
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The 13th Amendment
The road to the 13th Amendment began with President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which declared that all slaves in the rebelling Confederate states would be "forever free." However, this proclamation did not end slavery nationwide, as it excluded the loyal "border states" that remained in the Union. Lincoln recognized that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.
Despite some initial resistance, the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress and ratified by the required number of states, with President Lincoln playing a crucial role in its approval. Unfortunately, Lincoln did not live to see the amendment's ratification, as he was assassinated just days after the Civil War ended. The 13th Amendment, along with the 14th and 15th Amendments, significantly expanded the civil rights of Americans and represented a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery.
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Framers' intentions
The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in other parts of the document. The framers of the Constitution consciously avoided using direct language about slavery, recognising that it would sully the document. Many of them harboured moral qualms about slavery and some became members of anti-slavery societies.
The framers' conflicted stance towards slavery led to a compromise on the issue. In exchange for a 20-year ban on any restrictions on the Atlantic slave trade, southern delegates agreed to remove a clause restricting the national government's power to enact laws requiring goods to be shipped on American vessels. On the same day, the convention also adopted the Fugitive Slave Clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners. This compromise ensured that slavery remained a national issue, embedding it deeper into the fabric of American governance.
The Three-Fifths Clause, a compromise between Southern and Northern politicians, counted three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning representation, giving the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. This clause was included in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which allocated Congressional representation based on the "whole Number of free Persons" and "three-fifths of all other Persons".
The framers' intentions regarding slavery were complex and influenced by their desire to build a constitutional republic of liberty that equally protected the rights of all Americans. They believed that slavery contradicted the natural rights of all and denied the idea of consent in a republic. James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution", attacked slavery early in the Convention, stating that "the mere distinction of colour made in the most enlightened period of time, [was] a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man".
In conclusion, while the framers of the Constitution had conflicting views on slavery, they ultimately sought to address the issue through compromise, reflecting their intention to balance the protection of individual rights with the practical considerations of the time.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. The framers consciously avoided the word, recognizing that it would sully the document.
The Constitution prohibited federal interference with the international slave trade for at least 20 years and required states to return fugitive slaves. These measures ensured that slavery remained a national issue, embedding it deeper into the fabric of American governance.
Yes, the Three-Fifths Compromise, also known as the Three-Fifths Clause, allocated Congressional representation based on "the whole Number of free Persons" and "three-fifths of all other Persons". This gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The Constitution granted Congress the power to make "all needful rules and regulations" for the territories, which was interpreted as authorizing the federal government to ban slavery from the territories. Additionally, the Fifth Amendment declares that "no person" could be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
Slavery was abolished through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
