The Constitution's Power To Regulate Slave Trade Explained

The United States Constitution's relationship with slavery is a complex and contentious issue. The Constitution, ratified in 1787, included a compromise that prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years, until 1808. This compromise was reached to appease southern delegates, who threatened to refuse to join the Union if the Constitution restricted the slave trade. While the word slave was consciously omitted from the document, the Three-Fifths Clause gave southern states extra representation in the House and Electoral College based on their slave populations. The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, passed in 1807 and taking effect on January 1, 1808, outlawed the international slave trade, but slavery and the domestic trade in slaves persisted. This act was promoted by President Thomas Jefferson, who called for its enactment in his 1806 State of the Union Address.

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The Three-Fifths Compromise

Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives those states could elect and send to Congress. Free states wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, as those slaves had no voting rights. A compromise was struck to resolve this impasse. The 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, effectively giving the Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states.

The three-fifths ratio originated with an amendment proposed to the Articles of Confederation on April 18, 1783. The amendment was to change the basis for determining the wealth of each state, and hence its tax obligations, from real estate to population, as a measure of ability to produce wealth. The proposal suggested that taxes "shall be supplied by the several colonies in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex, and quality, except Indians not paying taxes".

Fugitive Slave Clause

The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was a clause in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. The clause was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and remained in effect until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865.

The Fugitive Slave Clause provided 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."

The clause avoided the use of the words "slave" and "slavery", instead referring to "service or labour". This was in keeping with the Constitution's general avoidance of the term "slavery", despite the fact that it provided important protections for the practice.

The Fugitive Slave Clause gave slave owners the right to seize enslaved people who had escaped to free states, and required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. This was based on the idea that slavery was a matter of state law, not federal law, and that a slaveholder had the right to reclaim an enslaved person who had escaped to another state. The enforcement provisions of the Fugitive Slave Clause were strengthened as part of the Compromise of 1850.

The Fugitive Slave Clause was controversial, with some arguing that it was pro-slavery and inconsistent with American values and republican ideals. It was also accused of obliging the executive of the state to seize fugitive slaves at public expense. However, others argued that it was necessary to ensure the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. The clause was a compromise, with southern delegates agreeing to a 20-year ban on restrictions on the Atlantic slave trade in exchange for its inclusion.

The Slave Trade Act of 1800

The Slave Trade Act of 1794 outlawed the international slave trade on U.S. vessels and limited the trade of foreign ships in U.S. ports. However, it did not prohibit the importation of slaves into the United States. This changed with the Slave Trade Act of 1800, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President John Adams on May 10, 1800.

The 1800 Act built upon the 1794 Act by increasing fines and penalties and outlawing U.S. citizens' investment in the trade and their employment on ships involved. It made it unlawful for any U.S. citizen or resident to hold any right or property in any vessel involved in the transportation of slaves from one foreign country or place to another. It also allowed U.S. vessels to seize and take any vessels employed in the slave trade, and it imposed heavy penalties on international traders.

The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, passed in 1807, further strengthened these measures by prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States altogether. This took effect on January 1, 1808, the earliest date permitted by the U.S. Constitution. However, it is important to note that this act did not end slavery or the domestic sale of slaves within the United States.

The controversy over the Atlantic slave trade during the framing of the Constitution resulted in a compromise. Southern delegates agreed to a 20-year ban on restrictions of the Atlantic slave trade in exchange for removing a clause restricting the national government's power to enact laws requiring goods to be shipped on American vessels. This compromise, along with the Three-Fifths Compromise, ensured the support of southern delegates for a strong central government.

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The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves

The Act prohibited the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States from and after January 1, 1808. It imposed heavy penalties on international traders but did not end slavery itself nor the domestic sale of slaves. The Act only affected the import or export of slaves and did not impact the internal trade within states or between states. While the Act made the international slave trade illegal, individual states could and did ban it before 1808.

The road to the Act began with the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited the outfitting or dispatching of ships for the slave trade, effectively limiting the trade to foreign ships. In 1800, an act of Congress made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, allowing authorities to seize slave ships and confiscate their cargo. On March 3, 1805, Joseph Bradley Varnum submitted a proposition to amend the Constitution and abolish the slave trade, which was tabled until 1807.

In December 1806, President Thomas Jefferson denounced "violations of human rights" in his annual message to Congress, urging them to take action. The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was passed by Congress on March 2, 1807 and signed by President Jefferson. From 1808 until the Civil War broke out in 1861, less than a fifth of the number of slaves imported before the Act were smuggled into the nation illegally.

Compromise and the Constitution

The United States Constitution, as originally conceived, contained several provisions that implicitly recognised and protected the institution of slavery. Notably, the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population when apportioning representation, gave southern states with large slave populations greater representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.

The Constitution also included a fugitive slave clause, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners, and prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years. This compromise, agreed upon in 1787, allowed southern delegates to remove a clause restricting the national government's power to enact laws requiring goods to be shipped on American vessels, benefiting northeastern shipbuilders and sailors. The compromise also avoided the use of the word "slave", instead referring to the importation of such persons.

The framers of the Constitution believed that these concessions were necessary to secure 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. However, by sidestepping the issue of slavery, the framers laid the groundwork for future conflict.

In the years following the Constitution's ratification, several attempts were made to address the issue of the slave trade. In 1800, the Slave Trade Act outlawed US citizens' investment in the trade and their employment on ships involved. In 1807, the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was passed, prohibiting the importation of slaves into the US from 1808 onwards. This act was signed by President Thomas Jefferson and reflected the growing trend towards abolishing the international slave trade.

Despite these legislative efforts, the domestic trade in slaves persisted within the United States, and slavery itself was not abolished until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which forbade chattel slavery across the nation and its territories.

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