Constitution's Southern Slaves: A Complex And Compromised Legacy

The United States Constitution's stance on slavery has been a highly debated topic. The Constitution did not end slavery, and the slave population in the South continued to grow, peaking at almost four million in 1861. The word slave does not appear in the Constitution, but it did receive important protections, such as 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 the Electoral College. The Constitution also included the Fugitive Slave Clause, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners, and it prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years. While some considered the Constitution a pro-slavery document, others, like Frederick Douglass, believed it supported anti-slavery principles and put slavery in the course of ultimate extinction. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in 1865, finally abolished slavery in the United States, but the aftermath of slavery, such as involuntary labor and white supremacist violence, continued to impact Black Americans, particularly in the South.

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The Three-Fifths Compromise

The Southern delegates wanted their entire population, including slaves, to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. The Northern, or free, states wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since those slaves had no voting rights.

Fugitive Slave Clause

The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was a clause in the United States Constitution that required runaway slaves to be returned to their masters. The clause, which was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, stated that:

> "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."

This meant that slaves who escaped to another state did not become free but remained slaves, and could be reclaimed by their owners. The clause was included in the Constitution to address the concerns of southern states, which threatened to refuse to join the Union if the Constitution restricted the slave trade. The Fugitive Slave Clause was a compromise that allowed the southern states to maintain the slave trade while also creating a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish the institution.

The Fugitive Slave Clause was controversial and was criticised by abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, who called it a "covenant with death" and an "agreement with hell". The clause was also accused of being contrary to America's republican ideals and dishonouring the American character. Despite these criticisms, the Supreme Court interpreted the Fugitive Slave Clause as giving slave owners the right to seize and repossess their slaves in another state, and state laws that penalised such seizures were ruled unconstitutional.

The Fugitive Slave Clause was eventually rendered mostly irrelevant by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery except as a punishment for criminal acts. The amendment, which was passed in 1865, ensured that abolition was beyond legal challenge and freed approximately three million Confederate slaves.

Abolitionist opposition

The US Constitution has been criticised as a pro-slavery document, with some abolitionists vehemently opposed to it. The Constitution did not end slavery, and slavery continued to spread in the South, although it receded in the North. The word "slave" was consciously avoided in the document, but slavery received important protections. The Three-Fifths Clause, for instance, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. The Constitution also included a fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners, and it prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years.

Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, who called the Constitution a "covenant with death and an agreement with Hell", burned the document in 1854. Garrison was joined by other abolitionists, including Theodore Dwight Weld and Angelina Grimké, who called for the immediate end of slavery across the nation. Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass initially agreed with Garrison but later changed his mind. Douglass defended the idea that the Constitution was anti-slavery, calling it a "glorious liberty document" that supported anti-slavery principles. He argued that the Three-Fifths Clause encouraged freedom because it gave "an increase of 'two-fifths' of political power to free over slave States".

The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, finally abolished slavery in the United States. However, some Black Americans in the South continued to be subjected to involuntary labour and white supremacist violence. The Amendment's penal labour exception provided cover for many abuses.

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The Civil War and the 13th Amendment

The US Constitution, which came into effect in 1787, did not put an end to slavery. Instead, it supported the concept of "freedom national, slavery local", with slavery remaining a matter of state and local law. The federal government could not interfere with the institution in the states where it already existed.

The Constitution also included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population when apportioning representation. This gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. The Constitution prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years and included a fugitive slave clause, requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners.

During the Civil War, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all enslaved people in the Confederate states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free". However, this did not end slavery across the nation as it only applied to Confederate states in rebellion against the Union. Lincoln recognised that a constitutional amendment was needed to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.

The 13th Amendment, passed during the Civil War and ratified in late 1865, abolished slavery in the United States. It 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."

Section 2 of the Amendment gave Congress the power to enforce this legislation. However, some Black Americans in the South continued to be subjected to involuntary labour and violence. The struggle for full equality and civil rights for all Americans has continued into the 21st century.

Post-Emancipation Black Codes

The word "slave" does not appear in the US Constitution, though slavery received important protections in the document. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, 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 Constitution also prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years and included a fugitive slave clause that required the return of runaway slaves to their owners.

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States, but some Black Americans, particularly in the South, continued to be subjected to involuntary labour under the Black Codes. The Black Codes were racially discriminatory state laws that limited the freedom of Black Americans. They were passed by a political system in which Black people had no voice and were enforced by all-white police and state militia forces.

The first Black Codes were enacted in Mississippi and South Carolina in late 1865. Mississippi's law required Black people to have written evidence of employment for the coming year each January, with penalties for those who left before the end of their contract. In South Carolina, a law prohibited Black people from holding any occupation other than farmer or servant unless they paid an annual tax of $10 to $100. Both states imposed heavy penalties for vagrancy, including forced plantation labour.

The Black Codes were part of a larger pattern of Democrats trying to maintain political dominance and suppress the freedmen, newly emancipated African Americans. They were particularly concerned with controlling the movement and labour of freedmen, as slavery had been replaced by a free labour system. The defining feature of the Black Codes was the broad vagrancy law, which allowed local authorities to arrest freed people for minor infractions and commit them to involuntary labour. This period was the start of the convict lease system, described as "slavery by another name".

The restrictive nature of the Black Codes and widespread Black resistance to their enforcement enraged many in the North, who argued that the codes violated the fundamental principles of free labour ideology. The outrage over Black Codes helped undermine support for President Andrew Johnson and the Republican Party.

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