Eleanor Finch
The US Constitution extended slavery for 89 years, from 1776 to 1865. The original US Constitution, drafted in 1776, did not use the words slave or slavery but included provisions that implicitly recognised slavery and the slave trade as part of the institutions and culture of the new nation. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, counted three-fifths of each state's slave population in apportioning representation, giving Southern states extra representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The Constitution also prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years and included a Fugitive Slave Clause that required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. It was not until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865 that slavery was officially abolished in the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year slavery abolished in the US | 1865 |
| Amendment that abolished slavery | 13th Amendment |
| Date the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress | January 31, 1865 |
| Date the 13th Amendment was ratified | December 6, 1865 |
| Number of states that ratified the 13th Amendment | 27 out of 33 |
| Date the 13th Amendment was officially certified | December 18, 1865 |
| US President during the ratification of the 13th Amendment | Andrew Johnson |
| Date President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation | January 1863 |
| States where slavery was still in effect in the mid-1800s | Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia |
| Number of states that eventually ratified the 13th Amendment | 36 |
| States that took the longest to ratify the 13th Amendment | Delaware, Kentucky, and Mississippi |
| Years it took Delaware, Kentucky, and Mississippi to ratify the 13th Amendment | 1901, 1976, and 1995 respectively |
| Number of people freed due to the 13th Amendment in Delaware and Kentucky | Almost 1,000 in Delaware, 65,000-100,000 in Kentucky |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution did not use the words 'slave' or 'slavery'
The original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. The framers of the Constitution consciously avoided using these words. Many of them opposed slavery on moral grounds, but they prioritized political unity over abolition. The framers' conflicted stance towards slavery is reflected in their use of euphemisms like "Person held to Service or Labour" instead of explicit references to slavery.
Despite not mentioning "slave" or "slavery", the Constitution dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere in the document. For example, the Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section 2) counted three-fifths of each 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 Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2) required states to return fugitive slaves, asserting that a slave bound by the laws of their home state remained a slave even if they fled to a non-slavery state. The Constitution also prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808.
The framers' compromises on slavery entrenched the institution and created a moral and legal crisis that would contribute to the Civil War. The Constitution's failure to address slavery directly left the seeds for future conflict. It was not until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865 that slavery was officially abolished in the United States. This amendment ensured that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime... shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
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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, since 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.
> Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
The three-fifths ratio was first proposed by James Madison in Federalist No. 54, published on February 12, 1788. Madison wrote:
> We subscribe to the doctrine, [might one of our Southern brethren observe,] that representation relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our slaves. But we must deny the fact, that slaves are considered merely as property, and in no respect whatever 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 was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and remained in place until 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, banning slavery in the United States.
The Fugitive Slave Clause required that a "Person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who fled to another state had to be returned to their master in the state from which they had escaped. The clause was unanimously approved by the Convention, despite objections from James Wilson and Roger Sherman, who argued that it would oblige state executives to seize fugitive slaves at public expense.
The exact wording of the clause was 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."
This clause effectively gave slave owners the right to reclaim their slaves who had escaped to another state. It also meant that slaves who fled to a non-slavery state were still considered slaves and could be returned to their owners. This was reinforced by the 1857 Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, which further undermined abolitionist arguments against slavery.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was largely rendered irrelevant by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime". However, it is important to note that even after the Thirteenth Amendment, there were still some limited circumstances in which people could still be held to service or labour, as noted by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Kozminski.
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Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
The US Constitution of 1787 did not use the word "slavery" but included several provisions about unfree persons. The Three-Fifths Compromise, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, allocated Congressional representation based on the whole number of free persons and "three-fifths of all other persons". This clause was a compromise between Southern politicians who wished for enslaved African Americans to be counted as 'persons' for congressional representation and Northern politicians who rejected these proposals out of concern for too much Southern power, as representation in the new Congress would be based on population. The Fugitive Slave Clause, located in Article IV, Section 2, further asserted that a slave who was bound by the laws of their home state remained a slave wherever they went, even if they fled to a non-slavery state.
The Emancipation Proclamation played a significant part in the end of slavery in the United States. It changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states. As soon as slaves escaped the control of their enslavers, either by fleeing to Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, they were permanently free. The Proclamation also allowed former slaves to join the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.
Lincoln recognised that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. To ensure the abolition of slavery in all of the US, Lincoln also insisted that Reconstruction plans for Southern states required them to enact laws abolishing slavery. He encouraged border states to adopt abolition and pushed for the passage of the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment, passed at the end of the Civil War, abolished slavery in the United States. It restricted several other forms of bound labour and servitude, such as indentured servitude and peonage. The Amendment made slavery and involuntary servitude unconstitutional "except as a punishment for a crime".
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The 13th Amendment
Prior to the 13th Amendment, the U.S. Constitution did not explicitly mention "slavery" or "slave", but it did include provisions regarding unfree persons. One notable example is the Three-Fifths Compromise, which allocated Congressional representation based on the total number of free persons and "three-fifths of all other persons". This compromise was a result of differing views between Southern and Northern politicians. The Fugitive Slave Clause, located in Article IV, Section 2, further asserted that a slave remained a slave even if they fled to a non-slavery state.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, declaring that all persons held as slaves within any state in rebellion against the United States would be "forever free." However, this proclamation did not end slavery nationwide as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in rebellion and not to the "border states" loyal to the Union. Lincoln recognised that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.
While the 13th Amendment abolished chattel slavery, it did not completely eradicate slavery in the United States. The amendment's exception clause has allowed slavery to persist through punitive systems and various forms of bound labour and servitude. For example, Southern states imposed Black Codes, which restricted Black people's labour and led to the convict leasing and vagrancy laws that targeted Black individuals. Additionally, the amendment has been interpreted to allow prison labour and temporary government, jury, and military service.
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Frequently asked questions
The US Constitution implicitly protected slavery for 89 years, from 1776 to 1865.
The US Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, with the passing of the 13th Amendment.
The 13th Amendment states: "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 13th Amendment abolished slavery and also restricted other forms of bound labor and servitude, such as indentured servitude and peonage. It has been used to fight racial discrimination and modern forms of slavery, like sex trafficking.
