Eleanor Finch
The issue of slavery was a highly contested topic during the drafting of the United States Constitution in 1787 and remained a contentious issue until its abolition in 1865. The Constitution did not contain the words slave or slavery, but it included provisions that protected the institution of slavery and prevented Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. The Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population towards its total population, gave Southern states more power in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The Fugitive Slave Clause required states to return fugitive slaves, further entrenching slavery in American governance. These clauses and the absence of explicit anti-slavery language led to disputes over whether the Constitution was pro-slavery or anti-slavery. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery in the United States, but the legacy of slavery and its impact on the Constitution continue to be debated and examined.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of drafting | 1787 |
| Date of ratification | 1789 |
| States where slavery was banned at the time | New England, Pennsylvania, and the Northwest Territory |
| Number of delegates to the Constitutional Convention who owned slaves | 25 out of 55 |
| Number of slaves in the U.S. at the time | Not specified, but their number was steadily growing |
| Provisions in the Constitution that dealt directly with American slavery | At least five |
| Clauses in the Constitution that protected slavery | Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3), Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 1), Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2) |
| Date the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress | January 31, 1865 |
| Date the 13th Amendment was ratified | December 6, 1865 |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Clause
> 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.
The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population towards that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. This gave the Southern states more power in the House and in the Electoral College, as the number of electors from each state was equal to that state's number of senators (two) plus its number of Representatives.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by James Madison, who explained the reasoning behind the ratio in Federalist No. 54, "The Apportionment of Members Among the States" (February 12, 1788):
> We subscribe to the doctrine,' might one of our Southern brethren observe, 'that representation relates more immediately to persons, and taxation more immediately to property, and we join in the application of this distinction to the case of our slaves. But we must deny the fact, that slaves are considered merely as property, and in no respect whatever as persons.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an attempt to resolve the conflict between the Southern and Northern states over the inclusion of slaves in the population count. The Southern states wanted their entire population, including slaves, to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. The Northern states, on the other hand, argued that slaves should not be counted at all since they were considered property, and no other forms of property were included in the count.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was superseded and explicitly repealed by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which provided that "representatives shall be apportioned...counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
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The Slave Trade Clause
The drafting and adoption of the United States Constitution involved compromises to gain the support of all the states for ratification. One such compromise was the Slave Trade Clause, which was included to secure the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. The framers of the Constitution believed that if the document restricted the slave trade, states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union.
The inclusion of the Slave Trade Clause in the Constitution has been a subject of debate, with some arguing that it was a pro-slavery provision that entrenched the institution of slavery in the fundamental law of the United States. Others, like James Madison, argued that it was not pro-slavery or that it did not concern slavery at all.
It is important to note that the word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution, as the framers consciously avoided using it. However, slavery received important protections under the document, and the Slave Trade Clause played a significant role in shaping the dynamics of representation and power in the early United States.
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Fugitive Slave Clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was part of the United States Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789. It is Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and requires that a "Person held to Service or Labour" (usually a slave, apprentice, or indentured servant) who escapes to another state be returned to their master in the state from which they escaped.
The text of the clause is as follows:
> 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 unanimously approved by the Convention without further debate. The clause was included to ensure that slavery remained a national issue, rather than a state-level concern, and embedded it deeper into the fabric of American governance. The clause was also important to the Southern states, who wished to protect their right to reclaim escaped slaves.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was enforced by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, with further enforcement measures added in 1850. Resistance to the Clause and the Act grew in the North in the 19th century, with several Northern states enacting "personal liberty laws" to protect their Black residents from kidnapping. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the Clause held that states had no power to legislate on the subject and could not obstruct federal enforcement.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was nullified by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1865, which abolished slavery in the United States.
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Abolitionist movement
The issue of slavery was addressed in the US Constitution, which was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789. While the document did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery", it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in other ways. For instance, the Three-Fifths Clause 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. The Constitution also prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808.
The Abolitionist Movement was an organised effort to end the practice of slavery in the United States. It took place from about 1830 to 1870, with the first leaders of the campaign mimicking tactics previously used by British abolitionists to end slavery in Great Britain in the 1830s. The movement began as a religious campaign, with abolitionists seeing slavery as an abomination and an affliction on the United States, but it quickly became a controversial political issue that divided the country.
Most early abolitionists were white, religious Americans, but some of the most prominent leaders of the movement were also Black men and women who had escaped slavery. They sent petitions to Congress, ran for political office, and inundated people in the South with anti-slavery literature. Female abolitionists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott went on to become prominent figures in the women's rights movement.
The divisiveness and animosity fuelled by the abolitionist movement, along with other factors, led to the Civil War and ultimately the end of slavery in America. In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that "all persons held as slaves [...] shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." However, this did not end slavery nationwide, as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in a state of rebellion. It was not until the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, that slavery was officially abolished in the United States.
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Thirteenth Amendment
The original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it directly addressed American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere in the document. 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, Paragraph 1) prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. The Fugitive Slave Clause required states to return fugitive slaves.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It 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, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. It was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.
In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state in rebellion against the United States were free. However, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation since it only applied to areas of the Confederacy currently in rebellion and not even to the loyal "border states" that remained in the Union. Lincoln recognised that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.
The Thirteenth Amendment provides 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, along with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans. It found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery in the United States.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the original US Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery".
Yes, the US Constitution dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere in the document.
The provisions included the Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, section 2, clause 3), the Slave Trade Clause (Article I, section 9, paragraph 1), and the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2).
The Three-Fifths Clause counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, giving the Southern states more power.
Slavery was abolished in the US with the passing of the 13th Amendment on January 31, 1865, and its ratification on December 6, 1865.
