The Constitution: A Missed Chance To End Slavery

The question of whether slavery should have been abolished with the US Constitution has been a subject of debate and controversy. When the Constitution was being drafted in 1787, the issue of slavery was one of the most challenging questions for the Founding Fathers. While many of the Founding Fathers had moral qualms about slavery and some even favoured abolition, they ultimately chose to sidestep the issue to ensure that the southern states would agree to the Constitution and join the Union. This decision was made to avoid the possibility of separate free and slave confederacies, which could have hindered efforts to end slavery in the future. As a result, slavery was implicitly recognised and protected in the original Constitution through clauses such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the ban on Congress ending the slave trade for 20 years. It was not until the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865 that slavery was officially abolished in the United States, along with restricting other forms of bound labour and servitude.

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The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery in the United States. The Amendment states 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." This marked a significant shift in the legal status of millions of enslaved people and was the culmination of years of struggle and advocacy for emancipation.

Prior to the 13th Amendment, slavery was a contentious issue in the United States, with some states allowing it while others prohibited it. The original Constitution implicitly recognised slavery through provisions such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes. Despite this implicit recognition, the Constitution did not explicitly address the abolition of slavery, leaving the issue unresolved.

In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all persons held as slaves within any state in rebellion against the United States were to 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 that remained in the Union. Lincoln recognised that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the permanent abolishment of slavery.

The 13th Amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War, and it easily passed in the Senate in April 1864, but it initially faced opposition in the House. President Lincoln played an active role in ensuring the Amendment's passage through Congress, and it was eventually approved by the required number of states in December 1865.

The 13th Amendment not only abolished slavery but also restricted other forms of bound labour and servitude, such as indentured servitude and peonage. However, it is important to note that even after the Amendment, some Black Americans were subjected to involuntary labour and discrimination under laws like the Black Codes. Additionally, the Amendment's exception for labour as criminal punishment has been interpreted to allow for prison labour and other forms of penal labour.

The Constitution protected slavery

The Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1787, protected slavery in several ways. Firstly, it included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which stated that three-fifths of each state's enslaved population would be considered when allocating taxes and seats in the House of Representatives. This gave Southern states with large slave populations greater representation in Congress and the Electoral College. The Constitution also included a Fugitive Slave Clause, which required runaway slaves to be returned to their owners, even if they fled to non-slavery states. Additionally, it prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years after its ratification.

The framers of the Constitution were aware of the immorality of slavery, and some, like Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, were members of anti-slavery societies. However, they made a compromise to protect slavery in order to maintain a strong central government and avoid secession by Southern states. Many of the framers, including George Mason and James Madison, criticised the institution of slavery. Madison, often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution", attacked slavery during the Constitutional Convention, stating that it was based on "the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man".

Despite these criticisms, the Constitution's protection of slavery is considered by many to be its biggest flaw. The omission of the value of equality from the preamble further highlights how the Constitution institutionalised slavery and protected only the rights of white men. The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, finally abolished slavery in the United States. However, even after the 13th Amendment, some Black Americans continued to face involuntary labour and white supremacist violence.

The Constitution avoided mentioning slavery

The Constitution of the United States of America, in its original form, did not contain any explicit mention of the word "slavery" or "slave". The framers of the Constitution consciously avoided using the word "slave", as they recognised that it would sully the document. However, this does not mean that the Constitution was devoid of any connection to slavery.

The Constitution included several provisions that implicitly recognised slavery and provided protections for the institution. One of the most notable examples is the Three-Fifths Compromise, mentioned in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. This clause provided that three-fifths of each state's enslaved population ("other persons") would be counted towards its free population for the purposes of representation in the House of Representatives, the allocation of direct taxes, and the distribution of electoral votes. This compromise gave the Southern states, which had a significant slave population, extra representation in the House and additional votes in the Electoral College.

Another provision that protected slavery was the Fugitive Slave Clause, located in Article IV, Section 2. This clause stated that a slave who was legally enslaved in one state remained a slave even if they escaped to another state that did not allow slavery. This clause was reinforced by the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case in 1857, which made it more difficult for abolitionists to argue against slavery using the Fifth Amendment.

The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. They were convinced that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union. By sidestepping the issue of slavery, the framers laid the groundwork for future conflicts and left unanswered questions about how to dismantle the legacies of slavery that were built into the foundation of the nation.

It was not until the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1865, that slavery was officially abolished in the United States. This amendment 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." The Thirteenth Amendment was the final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery and marked a significant step towards expanding the civil rights of Americans.

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The Constitution's Three-Fifths Clause was pro-slavery

The Three-Fifths Clause, also known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, was a provision in the original United States Constitution that counted "three-fifths of all other Persons" who were not free persons, including slaves. This clause was used to determine representation in the House of Representatives and direct taxes owed by each state. The Compromise was proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney during the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

The Compromise was a contentious issue, with Northern and Southern delegates holding opposing views. Northern delegates argued that only voters should be counted, while Southern delegates countered that slaves counted just as much as voters. The compromise that was agreed upon reduced the representation of slave states in the House of Representatives compared to free states. This was because slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person, rather than as full persons. This compromise was also tied to taxation, reducing the tax burden on slave states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise has been interpreted as a pro-slavery clause in the Constitution. It has been cited as evidence that the Founding Fathers accepted the legitimacy of slavery in the nation's foundational document. The Compromise implicitly recognized slavery and provided a way for the federal government to regard enslaved persons, treating them as less than full citizens.

The Compromise had a complex impact on Southern representation in the House of Representatives. While it reduced their representation compared to free states, it is worth noting that counting slaves as full persons would not have shifted the balance of power in the House significantly. In 1820, for example, Southern delegates would have still been outnumbered even with full representation.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was eventually rendered obsolete by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1865, which abolished slavery in the United States. This Amendment overrode the Compromise, ensuring that slaves were no longer counted as three-fifths of a person but were fully recognized as citizens.

The Constitution's legacy: slavery and abolition

The Constitution's legacy on slavery and abolition is a complex and often criticised aspect of American history. When the Constitution was being framed in 1787, the question of what to do about slavery was one of the most challenging issues facing the Founding Fathers. Many of the framers had moral qualms about slavery, and only 25 of the 55 delegates owned slaves, with several favouring abolition. However, they also sought to form a strong Union, and the southern states made it clear that they would not join if slavery was prohibited. As a result, the Constitution included several clauses that implicitly recognised and protected slavery, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, the ban on Congress ending the slave trade for 20 years, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the slave insurrection clause. The word "slave" was notably absent from the Constitution, which Abraham Lincoln argued was because the framers wanted to avoid sullying the document and because they believed slavery was in the course of ultimate extinction.

In the years following the Constitution, slavery continued to be a divisive issue in America, with northern and southern states taking different approaches. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 highlighted the ongoing disagreement, with Lincoln arguing for a gradual end to slavery and his opponent, Stephen Douglas, advocating for popular sovereignty, the idea that each state's population should decide whether to own slaves. The same year, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison burned the Constitution, calling it "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell", a view that still provokes controversy.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, issued by President Lincoln, declared all slaves in rebelling states to be "forever free", but it did not end slavery across the nation, and the question of how to ensure the freedom of these newly emancipated slaves remained. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1865, finally abolished slavery in the United States, stating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime [...] shall exist within the United States". This amendment also restricted other forms of bound labour, such as indentured servitude and peonage. However, some argue that it did not go far enough, as black Americans continued to face involuntary labour and discrimination, and slavery persisted in areas under Native American jurisdiction.

The legacy of the Constitution's role in slavery and abolition is a contested topic. Critics argue that the Founding Fathers should have demanded slavery's abolition in the original document, while others defend their decision as a necessary compromise to form a united country. The 13th Amendment is also seen by some as a failure to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people, while others view it as a significant step towards ending slavery and expanding civil rights.

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