Omar Bennett
The United States Constitution omitted the words slave and slavery from its text, despite directly dealing with American slavery in at least five provisions and indirectly protecting the institution elsewhere. The Framers consciously avoided the word, recognising that it would sully the document, and instead referred to slaves as persons. The Constitution also prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years, and a fugitive slave clause required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. The framers' conflicted stance towards slavery led them to deliberately avoid using direct language about the institution in the Constitution, leaving the seeds for future conflict.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Reason for omitting slavery | The framers consciously avoided using the word "slavery" or "slave" in the Constitution, recognizing that it would sully the document. |
| The framers believed that slavery was morally wrong and would die out, and they did not want a permanent moral stain on the document. | |
| The framers' conflicted stance towards slavery led them to deliberately avoid using direct language about the institution in the Constitution. | |
| The framers believed that concessions on slavery were the price for the support of southern delegates for a strong central government. | |
| The framers left slavery's future up to the political process. | |
| The framers believed that slavery would die out naturally in the South as it had done in the industrialized North. | |
| The framers wanted to avoid a pointed conflict between the rival formulations of the northern and southern states, which might have prevented the Convention from reaching an agreement on the Constitution. | |
| Constitution's stance on slavery | The Constitution indirectly protected slavery and included clauses that addressed it. |
| The Constitution prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years. | |
| The Constitution included the Three-Fifths Clause, which gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College. | |
| The Constitution included the Fugitive Slave Clause, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. | |
| The Constitution gave the federal government the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections. | |
| The Constitution tolerated slavery where it already existed but did not recognize the institution in national law. | |
| The Constitution provided for the abolition of slavery in the territories in the Abolition of Slavery Act. |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Compromise, also known as the Constitutional Compromise of 1787, was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention. The agreement was regarding the inclusion of slaves in counting a state's total population. This count would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would be allocated, and how much money the states would pay in taxes. 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, on the other hand, wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since those slaves had no voting rights.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution. It stated: "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 "other Persons" referred to in this clause were slaves.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by James Madison, who explained the reasoning behind the ratio in Federalist No. 54, stating that slaves were considered as persons and not merely as property. The compromise was reached after proposed compromises of one-half and three-fourths failed to gain sufficient support.
The Three-Fifths Compromise had a significant impact on representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. It gave the Southern states more power in the House relative to the North. It also resulted in the South having extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was repealed in 1868 by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided that "representatives shall be apportioned... counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
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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 requires a "Person held to Service or Labour" who escapes to another state to be returned to their master in the state from which they fled. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, has since nullified this clause.
The exact wording of the clause is:
> 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 use the words "slave", "slavery", or "fugitive slave". This was in keeping with the Constitution's avoidance of the word "slave", instead referring to slaves as "persons". The ambiguity of the clause's language has been interpreted in different ways by modern legal scholars. Some argue that it was a political compromise that avoided overtly validating slavery at the federal level, while others argue that it functionally entrenched slaveholder power.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was enacted as part of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which was strengthened in 1850. The Act was resisted by Northern states, which passed "personal liberty laws" to protect free Black residents from kidnapping and provide safeguards for accused fugitives. The Supreme Court ruled that states could not obstruct federal enforcement, reinforcing federal supremacy.
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Avoiding the word 'slave'
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 four clauses and indirectly protected the institution in other provisions. The Framers consciously avoided the word "slave", recognising that it would sully the document. They believed slavery was morally wrong and would eventually die out, and they did not want a permanent moral stain on the Constitution. Instead, the Framers referred to slaves as "persons".
The four clauses that directly addressed slavery were: 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 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 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 (Article IV, Section 2) provided for the return of fugitive slaves from the North back to the South. The slave insurrection clause (Article I, Section 8) gave Congress the power to put down domestic rebellions, including slave insurrections.
The Framers' conflicted stance towards slavery led them to deliberately avoid using direct language about the institution in the Constitution. They believed that concessions on slavery were the price for the support of Southern delegates for a strong central government. They knew that if the Constitution restricted the slave trade, Southern states like South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union. By sidestepping the slavery issue, the Framers left the seeds for future conflict.
While the Constitution did not use the word "slave", it also did not include a bill of rights, which may have been due to the issue of slavery. The Framers knew that drafting a bill of rights for the entire Union would require choosing between rival formulations, risking conflict that might have prevented agreement on the Constitution. Northern states like Massachusetts used universalistic language affirming freedom and equality for all men, while Southern states like Virginia employed restrictive language limiting rights to "freemen", accommodating slavery.
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Anti-slavery delegates
The anti-slavery delegates at the convention were determined to keep the idea of property in man out of national law. They were successful in this endeavour, as the Constitution did not recognise slavery in national law, meaning that slavery had no presumed legitimacy in areas under national jurisdiction, including the national territories.
The anti-slavery delegates were led by Gouverneur Morris of New York, who officially represented Pennsylvania. They called the pro-slavery advocates' bluff and tore up the draft Constitution on the slavery issue. They secured the federal government's authority to regulate the Atlantic slave trade and abolish it outright.
Luther Martin of Maryland, a slaveholder, argued 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" and "dishonorable to the American character to have such a feature in the constitution."
James Madison of Virginia, who took notes of the convention debates, wrote that the Constitution would tolerate slavery where it already existed, but it would not recognise the institution in national law. Madison also wrote that the real difference of interests lay between the northern and southern states, not between the large and small states.
The anti-slavery delegates' efforts were limited, however, as the Constitution still included clauses that indirectly addressed slavery and protected the institution. The Three-Fifths Clause, for example, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College by counting three-fifths of a state's slave population in apportioning representation. Additionally, the Constitution prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years and included a fugitive slave clause requiring the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
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Lincoln's emancipation
The US Constitution did not explicitly mention "slavery" or "slave" but included several clauses that protected the institution of slavery. The three-fifths clause, for instance, gave the South extra representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. The Constitution also prohibited Congress from outlawing the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years and included a fugitive slave clause that required the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a crucial step towards ending slavery in the US. Lincoln personally abhorred slavery, but he felt limited by his constitutional authority as president to challenge it outside of war measures. During the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation under his authority as "'Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy' under Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution. The proclamation stated that as of January 1, 1863, "all persons held as slaves within any state or states, wherein the constitutional authority of the United States shall not then be practically recognized, submitted to, and maintained, shall then, thenceforward, and forever, be free." Lincoln's action was considered a risky political act, and some questioned its constitutionality. However, it was a significant milestone in the long process of ending legal slavery in the US, along with the Thirteenth Amendment.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes and no. The Constitution only very obliquely referred to slavery and never used the words "slave" or "slavery". However, it indirectly protected the institution of slavery in at least five of its provisions.
The framers of the Constitution believed that slavery was morally wrong and would die out, and they did not want a permanent moral stain on the document. They avoided the word "slave" and referred to slaves as "persons".
The Three-Fifths Clause, the ban on Congress ending the slave trade for twenty years, the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the slave insurrection clause.
Yes, the Constitution created a central government powerful enough to eventually abolish slavery. During and after the Civil War, Americans ended slavery constitutionally. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure, and the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery in the United States forever.
