Eleanor Finch
The US Constitution, drafted in 1787, had a complex and ambiguous relationship with slavery. While the word slavery does not appear in the document, several clauses directly or indirectly addressed the issue, including the Three-Fifths Clause, the ban on Congress ending the slave trade for twenty years, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the slave insurrection clause. The Constitution's impact on the slave trade was twofold: it both perpetuated and eventually helped abolish the practice. On the one hand, the Constitution's concessions to slavery, such as the Three-Fifths Clause, strengthened the institution and delayed its abolition. On the other hand, the Constitution created a central government with the power to eventually prohibit the international slave trade and abolish slavery, which it did with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The Constitution prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade | For 20 years |
| The Constitution included a fugitive slave clause | Required the return of runaway slaves to their owners |
| The Three-Fifths Compromise | Counted 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 Constitution gave the federal government the power to | Put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections |
| The Constitution did not use the word "slavery" | The framers avoided the word due to moral qualms about slavery and did not want a permanent moral stain on the document |
| The Constitution was called "defective from the start" by Thurgood Marshall | The framers left out a majority of Americans when they wrote "We the People" |
| The Constitution was considered a pro-slavery document by some | Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison burned the document in 1854, calling it "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell" |
| The Constitution was seen as a compromise between Northern and Southern states | Essential for the formation of the Union, but ultimately unsustainable, as shown by the Civil War |
| The Constitution's power to prohibit the slave trade | Lay "the foundation for banishing slavery out of this country," as stated by James Wilson in 1787 |
| The Importation Clause | Passed with a 20-year compromise, despite efforts by Virginia to abolish the international slave trade due to the impact on the value of their domestic trade |
| The $10 tax on each head | Never collected, as some argued it would be anti-slavery by penalizing importation |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives those states could elect and send to Congress. Free states wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since 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, effectively giving the Southern states more power in the House relative to the North. This gave slaveholders enlarged powers in Southern legislatures, and this was an issue in the secession of West Virginia from Virginia in 1863.
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Fugitive Slave Clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. It required that a "Person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who fled to another state be returned to their master in the state from which they escaped. The clause was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
The exact wording of the Fugitive Slave Clause was:
> 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.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was notable for its avoidance of the words "slave" and "slavery". This reflected a compromise between Northern and Southern states that was essential to the formation of the Union, but ultimately unsustainable, as demonstrated by the Civil War. Many of the framers of the Constitution had moral qualms about slavery and believed it would eventually die out. They consciously avoided the word "slave" in the Constitution, recognising that it would sully the document. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery except as a punishment for criminal acts, has rendered the Fugitive Slave Clause mostly irrelevant.
The Fugitive Slave Clause had a significant impact on Black communities in the North, who were directly affected by its enforcement. The broad language of the Clause and its enforcement mechanisms enabled the kidnapping of free African Americans, who were then illegally enslaved. The case of Solomon Northup, a free man abducted in Washington, D.C., and enslaved in Louisiana for twelve years, highlighted the systemic abuse enabled by the Clause.
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International Slave Trade Clause
The International Slave Trade Clause, also known as the Slave Trade Clause, is a provision in the United States Constitution that addressed the issue of the slave trade. The clause, found in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, states:
> "The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person."
This clause had a significant impact on the slave trade in several ways. Firstly, it explicitly prohibited Congress from restricting or prohibiting the international slave trade until 1808, effectively legalizing it for a period of 20 years after the adoption of the Constitution. This was a compromise between northern and southern states, as southern delegates agreed to this temporary ban on restrictions in exchange for removing a clause that restricted the national government's power over trade shipping.
Secondly, the clause allowed for a tax or duty of up to $10 to be imposed on the importation of each person, which was a way to regulate and potentially discourage the trade. This tax was in addition to the requirement to return runaway slaves to their owners, as outlined in the Fugitive Slave Clause.
The International Slave Trade Clause also had implications for the federal government's power over the slave trade. It gave individual states control over the importation of slaves, effectively placing it out of Congress's reach. This was a significant concession to the southern states, as they believed that restricting the slave trade would lead to South Carolina and Georgia refusing to join the Union.
Despite the clause's explicit mention of the slave trade, the word "slave" is notably absent from the Constitution. This was a conscious decision by the framers, who believed that slavery was morally wrong and wanted to avoid a permanent moral stain on the document. They opted for terms like "persons" instead.
The International Slave Trade Clause had a built-in expiration date, after which it became constitutionally irrelevant. However, its legacy continued to impact the cultural and political discourse around the morality and profitability of the international trade in human beings. The clause also set the stage for future conflicts, as the compromise between northern and southern states proved unsustainable, ultimately leading to the Civil War.
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The role of state interests
The delegates at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 struck a compromise with these states, agreeing to a 20-year ban on any restrictions on the Atlantic slave trade. This compromise ensured that South Carolina and Georgia would join the Union, preventing them from joining foreign empires and posing a threat to American independence. This concession was deemed necessary by the framers of the Constitution, who believed that concessions on slavery were the price for Southern support for a strong central government.
The 20-year ban on restrictions gave the federal government the power to end the slave trade, a power that no previous US government possessed. This power was based on the understanding that the slave trade was a form of international commerce and, therefore, a matter of national interest. The inclusion of this clause in the Constitution reflected the framers' awareness that the international slave trade would eventually be abolished, whether due to economic factors or moral concerns.
However, the compromise also had negative consequences, as it temporarily strengthened slavery and created complexities that would lead to future conflicts. The Constitution's sidestepping of the slavery issue and its indirect references to the practice through clauses like the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Clause laid a foundation for tragic events to follow, including the Civil War.
In summary, the role of state interests in the impact of the US Constitution on the slave trade was complex. The compromises made with Southern states reflected economic and geopolitical considerations, granting them continued access to the slave trade while also providing the federal government with the power to eventually end it. While this compromise helped ensure the formation of a united country, it also created tensions and moral ambiguities that would have lasting repercussions.
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The legacy of slavery
Slavery and its constitutional history continue to have an impact on issues faced by Americans in the present day. The interpretation of constitutional law has set precedents for future generations, with courts ruling on matters such as educational equality. For example, in 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson made the South's Jim Crow laws constitutional, with a seven-to-one Supreme Court ruling that a state has a right to provide separate facilities for whites and African Americans, as long as it wasn't depriving anyone of their constitutional rights. From a 21st-century perspective, state-supported racial segregation is clearly unethical, but at the time, the controversy centred on the notion of equality. "Separate but equal" never truly meant "equal", and the facilities provided for minorities were notoriously inferior.
The Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, also restricted other forms of bound labour and servitude. However, the loophole allowing slavery as a form of criminal punishment has contributed to the modern-day phenomenon of mass incarceration, particularly of Black Americans. The overrepresentation of Black Americans in the prison system has been attributed to various factors, including racial bias in policing, sentencing disparities, and the war on drugs.
The United States' history of slavery and its constitutional legacy have also influenced the country's political and social landscape. The Civil Rights Movement, which emerged in the mid-20th century, sought to address racial inequality and discrimination through legal and social reform. The movement's successes, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, were significant milestones in the ongoing struggle for racial equality.
Additionally, the legacy of slavery has had a lasting impact on cultural and social identities in the United States. The country's diverse population includes individuals with varied ancestries, including those descended from slaves, and the experiences and contributions of African Americans have played a crucial role in shaping American culture, arts, literature, and more.
The United States' history of slavery and the constitutional compromises made during that era continue to shape the country's social fabric and legal landscape, highlighting the enduring significance of the past on the present.
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Frequently asked questions
The Slave Trade Clause, also known as the Importation Clause, is part of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the US Constitution. It prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years.
The Three-Fifths Compromise is mentioned in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution. It states that enslaved persons would be regarded as "three-fifths" of a fully free citizen. This gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The Fugitive Slave Clause, located in Article IV, Section 2, asserted that a slave who was bound by the laws of their home state remained a slave even if they fled to a non-slavery state.
No, the Framers consciously avoided using these words, recognising that they would sully the document. Instead, slaves were referred to as ""persons".
The Constitution included several clauses that protected slavery, such as the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause. However, it also created a central government with the power to end the slave trade, which it did through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
