Slavery's Constitutional Legacy: America's Original Sin

The topic of slavery was considered during the writing of the US Constitution. The document's authors left out any mention of slave or slavery, but the Constitution did include several provisions that implicitly recognised slavery and protected the institution. For example, the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted three-fifths of each state's enslaved population as part of its free population for the purposes of apportioning Congressional representation, gave greater power to the southern states. The Fugitive Slave Clause also ensured that slaves who escaped to another state remained slaves. Many of the Founding Fathers criticised slavery, but most of the signers of the Constitution owned slaves, and slavery persisted despite the Revolutionary War and ratification of the document. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1865, finally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the US, except as punishment for a crime.

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The Three-Fifths Clause

The clause was a compromise between the Northern and Southern states. Southern politicians wanted enslaved people to be counted as 'persons' for representation in Congress, while Northern politicians rejected this idea as it would give the South too much power. The compromise gave Southern states more representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. However, it also increased the direct federal tax burden on slaveholding states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was superseded and repealed by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which provided for representation to be apportioned based on the whole number of persons in each state. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime.

The Framers' Intentions

The intentions of the Framers of the US Constitution with regard to slavery have been a subject of much debate. The Constitution was drafted during a time when slavery was legal in the United States, and many of the Framers themselves owned slaves. While some have argued that the Constitution was a pro-slavery document, others have contended that it laid the foundation for the eventual abolition of slavery.

The Constitution's authors left out any explicit mention of slavery, a notable omission given that the document was intended to establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility. The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, and the Framers consciously avoided it, recognizing that it would sully the document. Instead, they included several provisions that implicitly recognised slavery, such as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which allocated Congressional representation based on "the whole Number of free Persons" and "three-fifths of all other Persons". This clause has been interpreted as implying that slaves were considered less than fully human, though others have argued that it gave "an increase of 'two-fifths' of political power to free over slave states". Another clause, known as the Importation Clause, prevented Congress from banning the slave trade for 20 years.

Despite these concessions to slavery, many of the Framers harboured moral qualms about the institution. Some, including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, became members of anti-slavery societies. At the Constitutional Convention, several Framers spoke out against slavery. James Madison, often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution", attacked slavery early in the Convention, stating that "the mere distinction of colour [...] has been made [...] a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man". Another Virginian, George Mason, feared that slavery would bring down "the judgment of heaven on a country". These sentiments reflected the Enlightenment philosophies of natural rights and religious convictions that were gaining traction at the time, challenging the idea that an entire subset of people could be commoditized and dehumanized.

In conclusion, while the Framers of the US Constitution may have had varying personal views on slavery, their collective intention seemed to be to create a document that established justice and protected the rights of all Americans. They likely recognized the contradiction between the ideals of liberty and equality espoused by the Constitution and the existence of slavery, and their avoidance of explicitly mentioning slavery in the document may have been an attempt to lay the groundwork for its eventual abolition. However, by including clauses that implicitly recognised and protected slavery, they also ensured that the Constitution did not directly challenge the institution.

The Impact of State Law

The issue of slavery was considered during the writing of the US Constitution, and it had a significant impact on state law. The Constitution implicitly recognised slavery and included provisions that impacted the status of enslaved people. For example, the Three-Fifths Compromise in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, allocated Congressional representation based on a state's free population and "three-fifths of all other persons". This gave southern states with larger enslaved populations greater representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College.

The Fugitive Slave Clause, or Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3, stated that enslaved people who escaped to another state remained slaves and could be returned to their owners. This prevented slaves from finding refuge in free states and reinforced the power of slave-owning states. Additionally, the Importation Clause, or Article I, Section 9, prohibited Congress from banning the slave trade for 20 years, ensuring the continued legality of the slave trade during the early years of the Constitution.

While the Constitution did not explicitly use the words "slave" or "slavery", it included provisions that implicitly recognised and protected the institution of slavery. This was a result of compromises made during the Constitutional Convention to balance the interests of free and slave states. The framers of the Constitution were aware of the moral contradictions of slavery and some, like Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, became members of anti-slavery societies. However, many of the framers also owned slaves, and the economic and political power of slavery influenced the shape of the Constitution.

Other states, such as Connecticut, also had forward-thinking framers who believed that slavery would eventually end. However, the power of slavery and the economic interests tied to it were deeply entrenched in many states, leading to a divided nation. Westward expansion exacerbated sectionalism, with disputes between northern and southern states over slavery becoming more frequent.

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The Abolitionist Movement

From its inception in 1776, the United States was divided into states that allowed slavery and those that prohibited it. The Constitution, drafted in 1787, did not explicitly use the words "slave" or "slavery," but it included several provisions that implicitly recognised and protected the institution of slavery. The Three-Fifths Compromise, for example, allocated Congressional representation based on a state's free population and "three-fifths of all other persons," effectively counting slaves as less than fully human.

In the years leading up to the Civil War, the abolitionist movement gained momentum. Notable abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, who burned a copy of the Constitution in 1854, calling it "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell," criticised the document for its implicit support of slavery.

As the nation moved towards war, President Abraham Lincoln recognised the need to address slavery. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves within the Confederate states "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." However, Lincoln also understood that a constitutional amendment was necessary to permanently abolish slavery.

The 13th Amendment, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was the culmination of the abolitionist movement's efforts and ensured that abolition was beyond legal challenge.

While the 13th Amendment marked a significant victory for the abolitionist movement, the struggle for racial equality continued. Even after emancipation, Black Americans, particularly in the South, faced discrimination and were subjected to involuntary labour and racial oppression. Nonetheless, the 13th Amendment, along with the 14th and 15th Amendments, greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans and laid the foundation for continued progress towards racial equality.

The Thirteenth Amendment

The question of whether the US Constitution was a pro-slavery document is a highly contested one. While some anti-slavery advocates, like William Lloyd Garrison, have criticised it for being a covenant with slavery, others argue that it created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish the institution.

The Constitution's authors left out any mention of "slave" or "slavery", despite the fact that slavery was implicitly recognised in the original document. For instance, 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 wanted enslaved African-Americans to be counted as 'persons' for congressional representation and Northern politicians who rejected these proposals out of concern for giving the South too much power.

The Constitution also included the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3), which stated that slaves held under the laws of one state who escaped to another state did not become free but remained slaves. The Importation Clause, Article I, Section 9, prevented Congress from banning the slave trade for 20 years.

Many of the framers of the Constitution had moral qualms about slavery, and some, including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, became members of anti-slavery societies. On August 21, 1787, a heated debate broke out over a South Carolina proposal to prohibit the federal government from regulating the Atlantic slave trade. Luther Martin of Maryland, a slaveholder, argued that the slave trade should be subject to federal regulation since the nation would be responsible for suppressing slave revolts. He also considered the slave trade contrary to America’s republican ideals, stating:

> "It is inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution ... and dishonorable to the American character to have such a feature in the constitution."

Despite the moral qualms of some of its authors, the Constitution laid the foundation for the tragic events that were to follow.

To address this, the Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865. It abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime:

> "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."

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