Jonah Patel
The original US Constitution, drafted in 1787, does not contain the word slave. However, it included several clauses that provided implicit protections for slavery, such as the Three-Fifths Clause, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the Migration or Importation Clause. The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, passed in 1865, abolished slavery and prohibited involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crimes. This amendment resolved the decades-long debate over the Constitution's stance on slavery, which had been interpreted as both pro-slavery and anti-slavery.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Avoided using the words "slave" or "slavery" | The original US Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. |
| Protected the institution of slavery | The Constitution protected the institution of slavery in several ways, including the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause. |
| Prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808 | Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the Constitution prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves for 20 years after the Constitution took effect. |
| Required states to return fugitive slaves | Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution, known as the Fugitive Slave Clause, required states to return escaped slaves to their owners. |
| Reflected the beliefs and compromises of the Framers | The Framers of the Constitution held varying beliefs about slavery, with some wanting to protect the institution and others wanting to restrict it. The Constitution reflected these compromises, such as by prohibiting Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. |
| Provided a basis for future conflict | By sidestepping the issue of slavery, the Framers laid the groundwork for future conflict, including the Civil War. |
| Influenced by economic factors | The Constitution was drafted in a time when slavery was a major component of the US economy, particularly in the South. |
| Subject to different interpretations | There is ongoing debate about whether the Constitution was pro-slavery or anti-slavery. Some, like abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, argued it was a pro-slavery document, while others, like Abraham Lincoln, believed it put slavery "in the course of ultimate extinction." |
| Amended to abolish slavery | The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, officially abolished slavery in the United States. |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Compromise is part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the U.S. 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." Here, the “other Persons” referred to slaves.
The compromise was proposed to resolve the dispute between slaveholding states, which wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress, and free states, which argued against counting the slave populations in slave states since slaves had no voting rights. As a result, three-fifths of each state's slave population was counted towards that state's total population, effectively increasing the political power of the Southern states relative to the Northern states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise has been criticised for relegating black individuals to "three-fifths of a person" status. However, some argue that this interpretation is false, and the Constitution, in fact, encouraged freedom by giving an increase of "two-fifths" of political power to free over slave states. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) later superseded Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and explicitly repealed the compromise.
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The Fugitive Slave Clause
The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fugitive Slave Clause held 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. State laws that penalised such a seizure were deemed unconstitutional. However, a state statute providing a penalty for harbouring an escaped slave was upheld because it did not affect the right of the slaveholder to reclaim their property.
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The Slave Trade Clause
The language of the Slave Trade Clause is carefully chosen, avoiding the use of the word "slavery" and instead referring to the "importation of persons". This is despite slavery being a major component of the economy and society in the United States at the time. The omission of the word "slavery" from the Constitution's provisions that most directly address the practice has been interpreted as an attempt to avoid suggesting that slavery was recognised under federal law, instead existing as a result of state laws.
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The Thirteenth Amendment
The original US Constitution did not expressly use the words "slave" or "slavery" but included several provisions about unfree persons. For example, the Three-Fifths Compromise (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3) provided that three-fifths of each state's enslaved population ("other persons") was to be added to its free population for the purposes of apportioning seats in the US House of Representatives. This was a compromise between Southern politicians who wanted enslaved African Americans to be counted as 'persons' for congressional representation and Northern politicians who rejected this, concerned about too much power for the South.
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The Civil War
The original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it directly dealt with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in other ways. The Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3) counted three-fifths of each state's slave population towards that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, giving Southern states more power in the House and in the Electoral College. The Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1) prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. The Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2) required states to return fugitive slaves to their owners.
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Frequently asked questions
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, prohibited the federal government from limiting the importation of "persons" to where state governments allowed it, until 20 years after the Constitution took effect.
Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, provided that apportionment of representatives would be based on the population of free persons excluding "Indians not taxed" and "three-fifths of all other persons", i.e. slaves.
Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2, required that an escaped slave be returned to their owner.
The Constitution prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808 and required states to return fugitive slaves.
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. Many have argued that the Constitution was pro-slavery.
