Constitution's Role In The Civil War

The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865 and is the bloodiest conflict in American history, resulting in at least 698,000 deaths. The war was fought between the Union in the North, where anti-slavery sentiment had grown, and the Confederacy in the South, where the fear of slavery's abolition had grown. The war was fought primarily over the issue of slavery, with the Southern states attempting to preserve the institution of slavery and the North attempting to end it. The Constitution played a role in causing the Civil War by recognising and institutionalising slavery, as well as through the electoral college and the formation of sectional parties.

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The Constitution recognised and institutionalised slavery

The United States Constitution, in recognising and institutionalising slavery, laid the groundwork for the American Civil War. The Constitution's so-called "fugitive slave" clause, for example, could be interpreted as pro-slavery, or, conversely, the absence of the word "slave" could be taken as an anti-slavery stance. The Constitution, therefore, provided a basis for arguments on both sides of the debate.

Slaveholders and abolitionists based their arguments on competing constitutional rights. Slaveholders asserted their alleged property rights in slaves, while abolitionists emphasised democratic rights and representation. The Constitution's role in creating this impasse is significant, as it was a compromise document that attempted to balance these opposing viewpoints.

The Constitution's recognition of slavery as a legal institution in the United States was a central factor in the Civil War, particularly for the Southern states. The preservation of slavery was a key motivation for the Southern states' desire to secede from the Union. This is evidenced by Mississippi's declaration after leaving the Union, which explicitly linked its position to the institution of slavery.

The economic, political, and social disparities between the North and the South further exacerbated the conflict. The North had grown wealthy, while the South had fallen into poverty. The fear of slavery's abolition in the South and the growing anti-slavery sentiment in the North contributed to the sectional divide. The Constitution's impact on the presidency and the electoral college also played a role in the lead-up to the war.

Ultimately, the Civil War led to significant changes in the Constitution, including the Reconstruction Amendments: the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery, the 14th Amendment guaranteeing citizenship to former slaves, and the 15th Amendment prohibiting the denial of voting rights based on race or previous servitude.

The 'fugitive slave' clause was argued to be pro-slavery

The Fugitive Slave Clause, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, was argued to be pro-slavery. This clause required that a "Person held to Service or Labour" who flees to another state must be returned to their master in the state from which they escaped. Notably, the words "slave" and "slavery" were not used in this clause, instead referring to a "Person held to Service or Labour".

The clause was a compromise between slaveholders and abolitionists, with both sides citing the Constitution to support their arguments. Slaveholders argued for their alleged property rights in slaves, while abolitionists prioritised democratic rights and representation. The Fugitive Slave Clause was a key example of the Constitution's ambiguity on slavery, which contributed to the Civil War.

The last-minute change in the clause's wording from "legally held to service or labour in one state" to "held to service or labour in one state, under the laws thereof" is significant. This revision avoided explicitly sanctioning slavery in the Constitution. However, it still effectively supported slavery by requiring the return of fugitive slaves to their masters.

The Fugitive Slave Clause was emphasised in South Carolina's Declaration of the Immediate Causes, which justified its secession from the Union in 1860. South Carolina accused Northern states of violating the clause and not returning fugitive slaves. The Constitution of the Confederate States explicitly mentioned slavery and included a stricter version of the Fugitive Slave Clause.

The Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850 further enforced the Fugitive Slave Clause, providing for the seizure and return of runaway enslaved people. These acts faced strong opposition and led to increased abolitionist sentiment, particularly in the North. The acts were among the grievances that led to South Carolina's secession and contributed to the Civil War.

The Constitution caused sectional strife, including the formation of the Confederacy

The US Constitution was a compromise document, with ambiguities that allowed both the North and South to interpret it in their own way. For instance, the “fugitive slave” clause could be argued to be either pro-slavery or anti-slavery. This led to sectional strife as both sides held competing constitutional rights. While slaveholders argued for their alleged property rights in slaves, abolitionists argued for democratic rights related to representation.

The Confederacy was formed by 11 southern states that had seceded from the Union. The Constitution of the Confederate States was drawn up and approved a week after Abraham Lincoln became president. The Confederate Constitution was largely based on the US Constitution, but it included several passages related to slavery that were much different. For example, it banned any Confederate state from making slavery illegal, ensured that enslavers could travel between Confederate states with their slaves, and required that any new territory acquired by the nation allow slavery. The Confederate Constitution also omitted the phrase "emit Bills of Credit" from Article 1 Section 10 of the US Constitution, which denied the states the right to issue such bills of credit.

The Confederate Constitution gave states of the Confederacy several rights that states of the Union did not have, such as the right to impeach federal judges and other federal officers if they worked or lived solely in their state. The Confederate Congress, unlike the US Congress, could not propose amendments. Instead, amendments had to be proposed by constitutional conventions in at least three states. The Confederate Constitution also clarified an ambiguity in the US Constitution's Article V by declaring that a national convention could propose only amendments suggested by state conventions, rather than having the authority to amend the entire Constitution.

The Civil War was not caused by the Constitution alone, but it was a significant factor in the build-up to the war. The compromises within the Constitution, such as the three-fifths compromise, and the ambiguous language around slavery, created a document that could be interpreted in favour of both pro-slavery and anti-slavery arguments. This allowed for extremists on both sides to drive the country towards war, with the Constitution being invoked by both sides to justify their actions.

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The electoral college permitted sectional parties

The American Civil War was fought between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, with both sides justifying their positions by appealing to the US Constitution. The Constitution, a compromise document, contained clauses that could be interpreted as supporting either side. For example, the "fugitive slave" clause could be argued to be pro-slavery, or, conversely, the fact that it did not use the word "slave" could be interpreted as an argument against slavery.

The Electoral College, established by Article II, Section I of the US Constitution, played a role in permitting sectional parties during the Civil War era. The Electoral College was designed by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The College was intended to govern the entire process of selecting the President and Vice President, from identifying candidates to the final stage of electing these officers. The original plan, as outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, stated that each elector would cast two votes for President, with the person receiving the second-most votes becoming Vice President. This two-vote feature led to a crisis in the 1800 election, when Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, tied with 73 votes each. The election was then thrown to the House of Representatives, which took six days and 36 ballots to resolve the tie.

The Electoral College process gave rise to sectional parties, with electors chosen with reference to particular candidates and pledged to vote for them. The system allowed third-party candidates with regional appeal, such as Governor Thurmond in 1948 and Governor Wallace in 1968, to win blocs of electoral votes in certain regions, even if they did not ultimately win enough votes to challenge the major party winner. The Electoral College's role in permitting sectional parties can be further illustrated by examining the three-fifths clause, which led to electors of free-soil Northern states numbering 8-11% more than Southern states. This clause, which allowed Southern states to relinquish counting two-fifths of their slaves, resulted in a more evenly distributed representation of the parties.

While the Electoral College was intended to reflect the "sense of the people" and maintain independence from factions, it ultimately fell short of this goal, with electors often chosen based on their allegiance to specific candidates or parties. This dynamic contributed to the sectional divisions that characterised the Civil War era, as regional interests and ideologies influenced the selection of electors and, by extension, the outcome of presidential elections.

The Constitution was a compromise document, which led to impasses

The US Constitution was a compromise document, which led to impasses. The Constitution's recognition and institutionalization of slavery, along with its compromise nature, were significant factors contributing to the Civil War. The "Fugitive Slave" clause, for instance, could be interpreted as either pro-slavery or anti-slavery, depending on one's perspective. Both slaveholders and abolitionists based their arguments on competing constitutional rights. Slaveholders asserted their alleged property rights in slaves, while abolitionists emphasised democratic rights and representation. The Constitution's compromises failed to resolve these fundamental disagreements, instead allowing them to persist and intensify.

The Constitution's impact on the presidency and electoral college also played a role in the lead-up to the Civil War. The founding fathers envisioned voters electing the best candidates as president and vice president, but the emergence of sectional parties disrupted this ideal. The Republican Party, for example, could only gain power by leveraging the winner-takes-all approach to electoral votes, as seen in Abraham Lincoln's victory in 1860. The Constitution's role in shaping the electoral landscape contributed to the sectional strife that characterised the pre-war era.

Compromises within the Constitution also influenced the balance of power between free and slave states. While the compromise maintained a sectional balance in the Senate, it did not achieve the same in the House of Representatives, where free states held more voting power due to their larger populations. This imbalance contributed to the growing tensions between the North and the South, with the North's anti-slavery sentiment and the South's fears of abolitionism.

The Constitution's role in creating these impasses was ironic and unintended. The compromises, designed to break deadlocks and foster unity, ultimately failed to prevent the nation from dividing along ideological and geographical lines. The Civil War, fuelled by competing interpretations of the Constitution, resulted in amendments that transformed the document, abolishing slavery and granting citizenship and voting rights to former slaves. Thus, the Constitution's compromise nature, while initially intended to maintain unity, ultimately contributed to the conflicts that led to the Civil War and its subsequent amendments.

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