Malcolm Rivera
The relationship between slavery and the US Constitution is a complex and contentious issue that has been debated for centuries. The Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, did not contain the words slave or slavery but addressed American slavery in several provisions and indirectly protected the institution. The Three-Fifths Clause, for instance, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes by counting three-fifths of a state's slave population. The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates, but this sidestepping of the issue laid the foundation for future conflicts. The Constitution's impact on slavery is thus multifaceted, and while it may have temporarily strengthened slavery, it also created a central government with the power to eventually abolish it. The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) and subsequent amendments played a crucial role in abolishing slavery and expanding protections for former slaves.
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a result of the disagreement between slaveholding states and free states. 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. As a compromise, it was agreed that three-fifths of each state's slave population would be counted towards that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. This gave Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was also used to determine the federal tax contribution required of each state, thus increasing the direct federal tax burden of slaveholding states. This compromise was later superseded and explicitly repealed by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which provided for representatives to be apportioned by counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding untaxed Indians.
The Three-Fifths Compromise has been interpreted in different ways. Some argue that it gave greater power to the Southern states, as it resulted in disproportionate representation for slave states in the House of Representatives. However, others, like Frederick Douglass, believed that it encouraged freedom by giving an increase of "two-fifths" of political power to free over slave states. Additionally, the compromise did not explicitly mention the word "slave" or "slavery", which some argue was a conscious decision by the framers to avoid sullying the document.
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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 was a constitutional compromise that gave slaveholders the right to reclaim their enslaved persons who had escaped to another state. The clause was introduced by Pierce Butler and Charles Pinckney of South Carolina during the Constitutional Convention, and notably, it does not mention the word "slave".
The Fugitive Slave Clause was enacted to address the issue of fugitive slaves, which became more prominent during and after the American Revolutionary War. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no mechanism to compel free states to capture and return escaped slaves to their former masters. However, the Fugitive Slave Clause provided a legal basis for slaveholders to recover their "property". It stated 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. The clause effectively recognised slavery as existing under state law, with slaveholders having the same rights to reclaim their enslaved persons as they would have under the local laws of their own state.
The Fugitive Slave Clause led to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which gave slaveholders the explicit right to capture their enslaved persons who had run away. The Act was enforced by the federal government, which was responsible for finding, returning, and trying escaped slaves. Marshals and deputy marshals were duty-bound to execute warrants for the arrest and recapture of fugitive slaves. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was strengthened in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850, which further emphasised the role of the federal government in capturing fugitive slaves and required their return even from free states.
The Fugitive Slave Clause and the associated Fugitive Slave Acts were highly controversial and led to widespread outrage. Northern states were accused of violating the clause, and there were attempts to repeal it during the Civil War. Ultimately, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery except as punishment for criminal acts, rendered the Fugitive Slave Clause unenforceable and largely irrelevant. The amendment's abolition of involuntary servitude nullified the legal basis for slaveholders to reclaim their enslaved persons across state lines.
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Abolitionist opposition
The US Constitution has been criticised for its protection of the institution of slavery, with some arguing that it was a pro-slavery document. The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, but slavery received important protections in the form of several clauses. The Three-Fifths Clause in 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. This clause has been interpreted as implying that slaves were considered less than fully human.
The Fugitive Slave Clause, Article IV, Section 2, required the return of fugitive slaves to their owners. This clause was superseded by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and rendered the Fugitive Slave Clause moot. The Slave Insurrection Clause in Article I, Section 8, gave the chief executive the power to suppress "riots or insurrections", including slave insurrections.
Some of the framers of the Constitution, such as James Madison, recognised the immoral nature of slavery and sought to address it. However, they believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. By avoiding the issue, they laid the foundation for future conflict.
Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison criticised the Constitution as a pro-slavery document. On the 200th anniversary of the ratification, Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice, called the Constitution "defective from the start" for its failure to include all Americans in the phrase "We the People". Abraham Lincoln, during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, argued that the framers avoided mentioning slavery to preserve the idea of liberty in the Constitution.
The Constitution's protection of slavery and its role in shaping the institution have been a source of controversy and debate. While it took a Civil War and constitutional amendments to eliminate slavery, the legacy of racial inequality persists in American society.
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The Civil War and Reconstruction Amendments
The Civil War was sparked in 1860 when South Carolina seceded, with other Southern states following suit. The war culminated in 1865 with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant, resulting in the South's reunification with the United States. This tumultuous period witnessed the emergence of the Reconstruction Amendments, comprising the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which were ratified between 1865 and 1870.
The 13th Amendment, proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, stands as a pivotal moment in American history, as it abolished slavery and involuntary servitude within the United States and its jurisdictions, except as punishment for crimes. This amendment superseded the Fugitive Slave Clause, rendering it obsolete.
The 14th Amendment, proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addressed citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. It eliminated the three-fifths rule, which had previously been used to determine representation and taxation based on slave populations. Additionally, it imposed penalties on states that denied male citizens over 21 the right to vote, and barred those involved in insurrection or rebellion from holding public office without Congressional approval.
The 15th Amendment, proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, focused on voting rights, prohibiting discrimination based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." This amendment was a crucial step in protecting the voting rights of African-American men, who had faced significant obstacles and intimidation when attempting to exercise their right to vote.
These Reconstruction Amendments served as the foundation for enforcing and implementing Reconstruction policies, including federal legislation such as the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875, and the Enforcement Acts of 1870-71. They were intended to end slavery, guarantee freedom, ensure citizenship, establish civil rights, and expand voting rights for African Americans. However, despite these noble goals, the promise of these amendments was eroded by state laws and Supreme Court decisions in the late 19th century, such as the Slaughter-House Cases in 1873 and Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which undermined the gains made during Reconstruction.
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The legacy of racial inequality
The omission of the word "equality" from the Constitution's preamble and the protection of slavery within the document laid the foundation for tragic events to follow, as noted by Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court justice. The Constitution's protection of slavery and the resulting racial inequality were not just a matter of words on paper but had very real consequences. For example, the Dred Scott v. Sandford case in 1857, where the Supreme Court ruled that African Americans were not and could never be citizens of the United States, deprived them of their rights and reinforced their status as property.
The Civil War and the Reconstruction Amendments (XIII, XIV, and XV) eventually abolished slavery, but racial inequality persisted. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, has rarely been cited in case law, and racial discrimination and modern forms of slavery, such as sex trafficking, continue to exist. The legacy of slavery and racial inequality is still felt today, with ongoing debates about gun rights, executive powers, and cultural progress.
The United States' founding ideals, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, proclaimed that "all men are created equal" and endowed with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, the Constitution's protection of slavery and the resulting racial inequality contradicted these ideals and created a nation where the rights and freedoms proclaimed in the Declaration did not extend to all. This contradiction between the nation's founding ideals and the reality of racial inequality has been a tension throughout American history and continues to shape the country today.
While the Constitution has been amended and interpreted over time to address racial inequality, the legacy of slavery remains a complex and ongoing challenge. The Constitution's original protections of slavery and the resulting racial inequality have had long-lasting impacts on various aspects of American society, including education, healthcare, criminal justice, and economic opportunities. Addressing these inequalities and striving toward a more perfect union remain ongoing pursuits.
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Frequently asked questions
The Fugitive Slave Clause, or Article IV, Section 2, of the Constitution, required that escaped slaves be returned to their owners.
No, the word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution. The framers consciously avoided the word, but the document still protected slavery and only recognised the rights of white men.
The Three-Fifths Compromise, or Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, allocated Congressional representation based on the number of free persons and three-fifths of all other persons (i.e. slaves). This gave the Southern states extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
Yes, the Constitution protected the institution of slavery. Many constitutional provisions did this, including the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Clause.
Slavery was abolished through a combination of the Civil War and constitutional amendments, specifically the Thirteenth Amendment.
