Simone Lawson
The original US Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, did not contain the words slave or slavery but dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in others. The issue of slavery was a contentious topic during the drafting of the Constitution, with some members of the Constitutional Convention voicing objections to slavery, while others believed that concessions on slavery were necessary to gain the support of southern delegates. The Constitution included provisions such as the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted three-fifths of each state's slave population towards that state's total population for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives, giving Southern states more power. While the Constitution did not expressly recognize a right of 'property in man', it included clauses that were interpreted as both pro-slavery and anti-slavery, and the question of whether the Constitution was ultimately pro-slavery or anti-slavery remains a subject of debate.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Framers' beliefs | Concessions on slavery were the price for the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. |
| Many framers believed slavery would die out naturally in the South. | |
| Framers believed that the Constitution was a document that laid a foundation for the tragic events that were to follow. | |
| Framers believed that the Constitution protected the rights of all Americans. | |
| Framers believed that the Constitution was a document that contradicted the natural rights of all and denied the idea of consent in a republic. | |
| 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. |
| Slave Trade Clause | Prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. |
| Fugitive Slave Clause | A slave who was bound by the laws of their home state remained a slave wherever they went, even if they fled to a non-slavery state. |
| Domestic Violence Provision | The United States government would protect states from slave rebellions. |
| Article IV, Section 3, Paragraph 1 | Allowed for the admission of new slave states to the Union. |
| Article V | Required a three-fourths majority of the states to ratify any amendment to the Constitution, ensuring the slaveholding states would have a perpetual veto over any constitutional changes. |
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What You'll Learn
- The Three-Fifths Clause gave Southern states more power
- The Migration or Importation Clause allowed slave imports until 1808
- The Fugitive Slave Clause enabled slave catchers to retrieve escaped slaves
- Article IV, Section 3, Paragraph 1 allowed for the admission of new slave states
- Article IV, Section 4, protected slave states from slave rebellions
The Three-Fifths Clause gave Southern states more power
The Three-Fifths Clause, also known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, was a provision in the original United States Constitution that counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population. This was for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, giving the Southern states more power in the House and in the Electoral College. This was because Article II, Section 1, provides that the number of electors from each state is equal to that state's number of senators (two) plus its number of representatives.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was struck to resolve the impasse between slaveholding states and free states. Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of representatives they could elect and send to Congress. On the other hand, free states wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, as those slaves had no voting rights. The Three-Fifths Compromise effectively gave the Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states. It also gave slaveholders similarly enlarged powers in Southern legislatures.
The inclusion of the Three-Fifths Clause in the Constitution has been a subject of debate among historians, legal scholars, and political scientists. Some argue that it supported the notion that slaves were conceived of as three-fifths of a person, while others contend that the three-fifths was purely a statistical designation to determine the number of representatives for Southern states.
The Three-Fifths Clause was part of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. It is considered by some to be a pro-slavery provision, as it gave Southern states with slave populations more representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. However, others argue that it did not encourage slavery but instead promoted freedom by giving an increase of "two-fifths" of political power to free over slave states.
The Three-Fifths Clause was superseded by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which explicitly repealed the compromise. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery in the United States, and the Fourteenth Amendment further ensured the equal protection of rights for all persons.
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The Migration or Importation Clause allowed slave imports until 1808
The Migration or Importation Clause, also known as the Slave Trade Clause, was a provision in the original United States Constitution that allowed the importation of slaves until 1808. This clause, found in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 1, stated that:
> "The migration or importation of such persons as the several states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the legislature prior to the year 1808."
The clause did not use the word "slave," but it was understood to refer primarily to enslaved African persons. It was a compromise between the Southern states, where slavery was crucial to the economy, and the Northern states, where abolition had been achieved or contemplated. The Southern states lobbied to protect the slave trade, arguing that if the Constitution restricted it, they would refuse to join the Union.
The clause prohibited the federal government from banning the importation of slaves until 1808, with 1808 being the earliest date that federal legislation could abolish the slave trade. On March 2, 1807, Congress passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which took effect on January 1, 1808, the first day constitutionally permitted. This act made it a federal crime to import slaves from abroad, even on foreign ships.
Despite the 1808 abolition of the slave trade, slavery itself persisted in the United States. The importation of slaves continued illegally, particularly through Spanish Florida and Texas. It was not until 1865, with the passage of the 13th Amendment, that slavery was finally abolished in the United States.
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The Fugitive Slave Clause enabled slave catchers to retrieve escaped slaves
The original US Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, 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 in other parts of the document. One of these provisions was the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2), which enabled slave owners to reclaim their slaves who had escaped to another state.
The Fugitive Slave Clause stated 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 effectively nullified the laws of free states that offered protection to escaped slaves. It also meant that slave owners had the right to seize and repossess their slaves in another state, and state laws that penalized such a seizure were deemed unconstitutional.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was one of the reasons why the Constitution has been viewed as a pro-slavery document. According to H. W. Brands, many of the drafters of the Constitution assumed that slavery would die out naturally in the South as it had in the industrialized North. However, the invention of the modern cotton gin in 1793 changed this, as it provided a more sustainable and economically viable crop for Southern plantations.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was eventually superseded by the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, stating 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."
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Article IV, Section 3, Paragraph 1 allowed for the admission of new slave states
The original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere in the document. One such provision was Article IV, Section 3, Paragraph 1, which allowed for the admission of new states. The delegates to the Convention anticipated the admission of new slave states to the Union.
This provision was one of several that allowed slavery to remain a national issue and embedded it deeper into the fabric of American governance. For example, the Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3) 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 in the House and in the Electoral College. The Migration or Importation Clause (Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 1) prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. The Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2, Paragraph 3) required states into which slaves escaped to return them to their owners. The Capitation Clause (Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 4) declared that any 'capitation' or other 'direct tax' had to take into account the Three-Fifths Clause.
The Constitution's framers believed that concessions on slavery were the price for the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. They were convinced that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union. Many of the framers harbored moral qualms about slavery, and some became members of anti-slavery societies. However, by sidestepping the slavery issue, the framers laid the foundation for future conflict.
The question of whether the Constitution was pro-slavery or anti-slavery is still debated. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called it "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell", while Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said it was "defective from the start". On the other hand, Frederick Douglass argued in an 1860 speech that several of the Constitution's provisions were not pro-slavery or did not concern slavery. James Oakes similarly writes that there was both a proslavery and an antislavery Constitution.
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Article IV, Section 4, protected slave states from slave rebellions
The original US Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1789, did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text. However, it dealt directly with American slavery in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution in other sections of the document. One such section is Article IV, Section 4, which guaranteed that the United States government would protect states from "domestic violence," including slave rebellions.
Article IV, Section 4, of the original Constitution was designed to address concerns about "domestic violence" and specifically mentioned slave rebellions. This provision reflected the framers' concerns about the potential for slave revolts and their desire to protect the slave-holding states. It ensured that the federal government would intervene to suppress slave rebellions and uphold the institution of slavery.
The inclusion of Article IV, Section 4, in the original Constitution demonstrates the framers' recognition of the instability and potential for unrest inherent in the institution of slavery. By guaranteeing federal protection against slave rebellions, they sought to reassure slave-holding states and maintain their support for the Union. This provision reflected the complex political realities of the time and the compromises made during the Constitutional Convention.
While Article IV, Section 4, addressed slave rebellions, other sections of the original Constitution also indirectly protected slavery. For example, the Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section 2) gave slave-holding states increased representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. Additionally, the Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2) required states to return escaped slaves to their owners, ensuring that slavery remained a national issue.
It is important to note that the framers of the Constitution had differing views on slavery. Some, like Luther Martin of Maryland, argued that the slave trade was inconsistent with American ideals and should be subject to federal regulation. Others, such as John Rutledge of South Carolina, vehemently defended the institution of slavery and threatened to leave the Union if it was regulated. The compromises made in the original Constitution, including Article IV, Section 4, reflected these competing interests and the desire to maintain political unity.
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Frequently asked questions
No, the original United States Constitution did not contain the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text.
The Three-Fifths Clause Article I, section 2, clause 3 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 in the House and in the Electoral College. The Migration or Importation Clause Article I, section 9, paragraph 1 prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. The Fugitive Slave Clause Article IV, section 2, clause 3 stated that "No person held to Service or Labour in one State" would be freed by escaping to another.
Many of the framers harbored moral qualms about slavery. Luther Martin of Maryland, a slaveholder, said that the slave trade should be subject to federal regulation since the entire nation would be responsible for suppressing slave revolts. He also considered the slave trade contrary to America’s republican ideals, stating that it was "inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution." Another Virginian, George Mason, feared that slavery brought down "the judgment of heaven on a country."
The framers of the Constitution believed that concessions on slavery were the price for the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. They were convinced that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union.
