Simone Lawson
The United States Constitution has been a subject of controversy, with disputes about whether it was pro-slavery or anti-slavery. The Constitution, which did not contain the words slave or slavery, had provisions that directly and indirectly protected the institution of slavery. The framers, many of whom were slave owners, had differing views on slavery, with some morally opposed to it. The Constitution's Fugitive Slave Clause and Three-Fifths Clause have been interpreted as pro-slavery, while others argue that it was anti-slavery, as it created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish the institution. The debate over the Constitution's role in slavery is crucial in understanding the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The Constitution's stance on slavery | The Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" but it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in others. |
| The framers' intentions | The framers' intentions were conflicted. Many personally opposed slavery on moral grounds but they prioritized political unity over abolition. |
| The Three-Fifths Clause | This clause in Article I, Section 2, meant that slaves were considered less than fully human. It gave greater power to the southern states by counting three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning representation, giving the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. |
| The Fugitive Slave Clause | This clause required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. |
| The Importation Clause | Article I, Section 9, prohibited Congress from banning the slave trade for 20 years. |
| Abolitionist and anti-slavery voices | An interracial movement of abolitionist and anti-slavery voices pushed to end slavery in America. |
| The 13th Amendment | Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. |
| The Emancipation Proclamation | In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that "all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." However, it only applied to areas of the Confederacy currently in a state of rebellion and not to the loyal "border states" that remained in the Union. |
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What You'll Learn
The 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation
However, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery nationwide. It only applied to areas of the Confederacy currently in rebellion, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. As such, Lincoln recognised that it would need to be followed by a constitutional amendment to truly abolish slavery. The 13th Amendment, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery in the United States, stating 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".
The 13th Amendment was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments, followed by the 14th and 15th Amendments, which were passed between 1865 and 1870 following the Civil War. These amendments greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans, with the 13th Amendment providing a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery.
The debate surrounding the Constitution's relationship to slavery has long been a topic of discussion. The Constitution did not explicitly mention slavery, with the framers deliberately avoiding the use of the word "slave". However, it provided important protections for slavery, such as the Three-Fifths Clause, which gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. On the other hand, some argue that the Constitution created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment were thus significant steps in fulfilling the anti-slavery promise of the Constitution and ending slavery in the United States.
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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. The clause requires that a "Person held to Service or Labour" who escapes to another state must be returned to their master in the state from which they fled. The clause was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and remained in place until the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, rendering the clause mostly irrelevant.
The exact wording of the Fugitive Slave Clause is 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 gave enslavers the right to seize their enslaved people who had escaped to free states. It 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 Fugitive Slave Clause was interpreted by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the owner of an enslaved person had the same right to seize and repossess them in another state as the local laws of their own state granted to them. This interpretation meant that state laws that penalized such a seizure were deemed unconstitutional. The Fugitive Slave Clause was also strengthened as part of the Compromise of 1850, which further solidified the rights of slaveholders to reclaim their "property".
In conclusion, the Fugitive Slave Clause was a significant part of the United States Constitution, which allowed slaveholders to reclaim their enslaved people who had escaped to free states. This clause was upheld and strengthened by the Supreme Court and Congress, respectively, before being rendered mostly irrelevant by the Thirteenth Amendment's abolition of slavery.
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Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Compromise, or Three-Fifths Clause, was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention regarding the inclusion of slaves in a state's total population. This count would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would be allocated, and the amount of money states would pay in taxes.
Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of representatives they could elect and send to Congress. Free states, on the other hand, wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, as those slaves had no voting rights. 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, giving the Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution, which 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 "other Persons" referred to in this clause were slaves.
The Three-Fifths Compromise has been a subject of controversy, with some arguing that it relegated Blacks to "three-fifths of a person" status. However, this interpretation has been disputed, and it is important to note that the Constitution nowhere forbade a coloured man to vote. The compromise was later superseded and explicitly repealed by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.
The Three-Fifths Compromise had significant implications for the United States, including the outcome of the 1800 election, which Thomas Jefferson may have lost without it. It also contributed to the tensions between the North and the South, leading up to the Civil War. While the Compromise was a concession to the South, it also created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish slavery.
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The founding generation's natural rights principles
The founding generations' natural rights principles were at the heart of the debate over slavery and the Constitution. While the Constitution did not explicitly mention "slavery" or "slave", it included several provisions that addressed the institution of slavery in America. One of the key provisions was the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population when apportioning representation, giving Southern states with a large slave population more power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. This clause has been interpreted as a pro-slavery element of the Constitution, as it effectively considered slaves as less than fully human.
Another important provision was the Fugitive Slave Clause, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners, even in free states. This clause also strengthened the power of slaveholders and made slavery a national issue, rather than a state-level concern. Additionally, the Constitution prohibited Congress from banning the slave trade for twenty years, further entrenching slavery in the nation's fabric.
However, some scholars argue that the Constitution also included anti-slavery sentiments. For example, it granted Congress the power to make "all needful rules and regulations" for the territories, which many interpreted as authorizing the federal government to ban slavery in these territories. The Fifth Amendment, which states that "no person" can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process, also embodies the principle of fundamental human equality.
The founding generations' natural rights principles were reflected in the eventual abolition of slavery through the 13th Amendment, passed at the end of the Civil War. This amendment abolished slavery in the United States, guaranteeing freedom and equality for all Americans, regardless of race. The 14th and 15th Amendments further expanded civil rights, promoting a ""Second Founding" for America and greatly expanding the liberties established by the original Constitution.
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The Civil War and secession
The Civil War was precipitated by the secession of 11 slave states from the Union between 1860 and 1861, following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the nation's first anti-slavery president. Secession refers to the voluntary withdrawal of one or more states from the Union. The seceding states formed the Confederate States of America, with its capital in Montgomery, Alabama, later moving to Richmond, Virginia.
The seeds of conflict were sown by the framers of the Constitution, who avoided using the words "slave" and "slavery" in the text, despite providing important protections for the institution of slavery. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, gave the South 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 requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
The debate over the Constitution's relationship to slavery continued in the lead-up to the Civil War, with both pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates interpreting the document to support their positions. The election of Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories, prompted Southern leaders to seize the initiative and form a separate nation.
The first seven seceding states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The border states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy after the Battle of Fort Sumter, which was the opening engagement of the Civil War.
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Frequently asked questions
The Neo-Garrisonians maintain that the Constitution was a "covenant with death" and an "agreement with hell", with the framers being mostly pro-slavery. This view is attributed to abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who burned the document in 1854.
The Neo-Lincolnians argue that the framers of the Constitution were mostly anti-slavery, but they did make some concessions to slavery to gain support from pro-slavery statesmen.
The framers avoided using the words "slave" or "slavery" in the text, instead using euphemisms like "Person held to Service or Labour". They also included the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of a state's slave population when apportioning representation, giving the South more power. Additionally, they included the Fugitive Slave Clause, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
The 13th Amendment, passed at the end of the Civil War, abolished slavery in the United States. It was preceded by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in rebelling states would be free. However, the Proclamation did not end slavery nationwide, and the 13th Amendment was needed to constitutionally guarantee its abolishment.
The election of Abraham Lincoln, the first anti-slavery president, led to Southern states formally withdrawing from the Union. Lincoln argued that the Civil War was about preserving the Union and ending slavery. The 13th Amendment, along with the 14th and 15th Amendments, greatly expanded civil rights and promoted freedom and equality.
