Omar Bennett
The original U.S. Constitution did not contain the words slave or slavery within its text, but it directly addressed American slavery in at least five provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere. The Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, gave the South extra representation in the House and Electoral College. The Slave Trade Clause prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808, and the Fugitive Slave Clause required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. The Constitution also gave the federal government the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections. These constitutional compromises entrenched slavery, creating a moral and legal crisis that would contribute to the Civil War.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Slave Insurrection Clause | Article I, Section 8 |
| Fugitive Slave Clause | Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2 |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 |
| Slave Trade Clause | Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 |
| Prohibition on Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade | 20 years |
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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. A compromise was struck to resolve this impasse. 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.
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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. It was adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and remained in effect until the abolition of slavery under the Thirteenth Amendment.
The Clause requires that a "Person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who flees to another state must be returned to their master in the state from which they escaped. The relevant part of the Clause reads:
> 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 did not mention the word "slave", but it formed the basis for the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which gave slaveholders the right to capture enslaved people who had run away. The enforcement provisions of this Act were strengthened in 1850, and it required slaves to be returned to their owners, even if they were in a free state.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was controversial, and Northern resistance to its enforcement increased in the 19th century, particularly after the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Several Northern states enacted "personal liberty laws" to protect free Black residents from kidnapping and provide safeguards for accused fugitives. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the 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.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime", has made the Clause mostly irrelevant.
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Slave Trade Clause
The Slave Trade Clause, also known as the Importation of Persons Clause, is outlined in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1 of the US Constitution. The clause states that Congress could not prohibit the "importation" of persons prior to 1808. This clause was a compromise between the Northern and Southern states, reflecting the deep tension between the practice of slavery and the notion of equality in the Declaration of Independence.
The Slave Trade Clause was a temporary measure, with a built-in expiration date of 1808. It did not grant Congress the power to restrict the slave trade but limited their authority until that date. The clause was included in the Constitution because, at the time, slavery was a significant component of the US economy and society. The Southern states, which relied heavily on slavery, needed this assurance to ratify the Constitution and join the Union.
In the years leading up to 1808, popular support for the abolition of the slave trade and slavery itself grew in the US and internationally. The UK and other countries passed legislation restricting the slave trade, increasing pressure on the US to do the same. In 1800, an act of Congress made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, and authorized the seizure of slave ships.
On January 1, 1808, the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves took effect, imposing heavy penalties on international slave traders. However, it did not end slavery or the domestic sale of slaves within the US. The interstate slave trade persisted, and the illegal importation of slaves continued, often resulting in the enslaved people being sold into slavery in the US.
The Fugitive Slave Clause, found in Article IV, Section 2, Clause 2, is another provision in the Constitution that relates to slavery. It states that escaped slaves must be returned to their masters, avoiding the use of the word "slavery." This clause was included to protect the interests of slave owners and was part of the compromises made to unite the Southern and Northern states.
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Slave Insurrection Clause
The Slave Insurrection Clause, also known as the Slave Trade Clause, is outlined in Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 of the US Constitution. This clause prohibited the federal government from limiting the importation of "persons" where state governments saw fit to allow it, for 20 years after the Constitution took effect. The clause was a compromise between the Southern states, where slavery was pivotal to the economy, and the Northern states, where abolition had been accomplished or was contemplated.
The clause was included in the Constitution to protect the economic interests of the Southern states, where slavery was an essential component of the economy. It was also a reflection of the differences of opinion between representatives of states regarding the slave trade. While there was more support for restricting the slave trade than ending slavery, the clause was a compromise that allowed the slave trade to continue for a limited time.
The Slave Insurrection Clause was due to expire in 1808, and in anticipation of this, President Thomas Jefferson sent an annual message to Congress in December 1806, congratulating his fellow citizens on the upcoming opportunity to "withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa". On January 1, 1808, the bill that President Jefferson signed went into effect, prohibiting the importation of slaves.
Despite the expiration of the clause, it remains a part of the Constitution and holds cultural and political relevance in the discourse of the morality and profitability of the international trade in human beings. The inclusion of the clause in the Constitution, and its subsequent expiration, highlight the complex and contradictory nature of the founding document of the United States in relation to slavery.
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The Civil War and Amendments
The US Constitution, despite being founded on the principles of liberty, had enshrined slavery in its original form. The Founding Fathers, however, were not proponents of slavery and criticised the institution. For instance, James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution", attacked slavery during the Convention, and George Mason feared that slavery would bring down "the judgment of heaven on a country".
Article I, Section 9, Clause 1, prohibited the federal government from limiting the importation of "persons" (i.e. enslaved African persons) until 20 years after the Constitution took effect. The Slave Trade Clause, also known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, detailed how each state's enslaved population would be factored into its total population count for the purposes of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives and direct taxes among the states. The Fugitive Slave Clause, Article IV, Section 2, ensured the return of fugitive slaves from the North back to the South.
The Civil War and the subsequent adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution ended slavery and defined citizenship. The Thirteenth Amendment, proposed in 1864 and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The Fourteenth Amendment (proposed in 1866, ratified in 1868) addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for all persons. The Fifteenth Amendment (proposed in 1869, ratified in 1870) prohibits discrimination in voting rights based on "race, colour, or previous condition of servitude".
The Reconstruction Amendments were adopted between 1865 and 1870, in the five years immediately following the Civil War. They were part of a large movement to reconstruct the United States that followed the war. The Amendments were intended to guarantee the freedom of the formerly enslaved, grant them certain civil rights, and protect them from discrimination in voting rights.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a provision in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. This gave Southern states more power in the House and in the Electoral College.
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as Article IV, Section 2, provided that "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 required the return of fugitive slaves to their owners.
The Slave Trade Clause, or Article I, Section 9, prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. This clause did not use the word "slave," instead referring to the prohibition on banning the importation of "persons."
