The 1787 Constitution, also known as the United States Constitution, was the document that established the federal government of the United States and defined the powers and responsibilities of the three branches of government. One of the most controversial and enduring issues addressed by the Constitution was the institution of slavery.
When the Constitution was being drafted, the United States was a nation deeply divided over the issue of slavery. Some states, particularly in the North, had already abolished slavery or were in the process of doing so, while others, particularly in the South, relied heavily on slavery as the backbone of their economies. The debate over slavery was intense and emotional, and it threatened to derail the entire constitutional convention.
Ultimately, a compromise was reached in which slavery was allowed to continue, but with some limitations. The Constitution included several provisions related to slavery, some of which were intended to protect the rights of slaveholders and others of which were intended to restrict the expansion of slavery.
One of the most significant provisions related to slavery was the "Three-Fifths Compromise," which stated that enslaved people would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining representation in Congress. This meant that Southern states, which had large slave populations, would have more representation in Congress than they would have if slaves were not counted at all. At the same time, the Three-Fifths Compromise also recognized that slaves were not full citizens and did not have the same rights and privileges as free people.
Another provision related to slavery was the "Slave Trade Clause," which prohibited Congress from banning the importation of slaves until 1808. This clause was included to appease Southern states that relied on the slave trade to maintain their slave populations. It was not until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted in 1865, that slavery was officially abolished in the United States.
Despite the limitations and compromises that were made in the Constitution regarding slavery, it is important to recognize that the document also included several provisions that were intended to protect the rights of all people, including enslaved people. For example, the Constitution guaranteed the right to a fair and speedy trial, prohibited excessive bail and fines, and protected against cruel and unusual punishment.
In conclusion, the 1787 Constitution was a document that addressed the issue of slavery in a way that was intended to balance the interests of Northern and Southern states and maintain the unity of the nation. While the Constitution did not fully address the moral and ethical issues surrounding slavery, it laid the foundation for the eventual abolition of the institution through the 13th Amendment and other amendments that expanded the rights and freedoms of all people in the United States.
Slavery, Sectionalism, and the Constitution of 1787
They made concessions on issues unrelated to slavery to gain northern votes in support of southern interests. At the same time, politicians who supported the Philadelphia convention hoped that a more powerful government would prove able to exact more favorable commercial treaties from European powers. This meant that Congress could not abolish the international slave trade until 1808, which it did on January 1, 1808. Ironically, the person who took the lead in drafting a bill of rights in the first Congress was James Madison, who had opposed adding a bill of rights not only during the Convention, but also during the debate over ratification in his state of Virginia. Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Those ideas of the equality of mankind; that governments are based on the consent of the governed; that it is the fundamental obligation of a government to serve the needs of the people it governs; and, indeed, that it is the right of the people to abolish a government that does not serve those ends, has formed the basis of American government and society from that time forward.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Revolution in Government
However, the issue of slavery was left to the discretion of states. This is, in fact, a bounty on that article. He contended, that the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the whole Union. People were nervous that it would cause a slave uprising. The delegates referred the slavery question to a committee. Slaves were imported into and held as property all of the American colonies for more than a century. When South Carolina proposed a provision that would prohibit the federal government from regulating the Atlantic Slave Trade, others argued that the whole country would be responsible for suppressing slave revolts, which was enough reason to give the federal government oversight.
Especially knowing that the Civil War would come, how prescient is Col. New York: New American Library, 1961. They would not willingly enter into union with states that possessed the power to emancipate southern slaves. He remarked on the exemption of slaves from duty, whilst every other import was subjected to it, as an inequality that could not fail to strike the commercial sagacity of the Northern and Middle States. Sadly, Mason was more right than Ellsworth on the eventual result of slavery. Those from large, populous states such as Virginia and Pennsylvania—supporters of the Virginia Plan—argued that representation in both houses of the proposed new congress should be based on population, while those from smaller states such as New Jersey and Delaware—supporters of the New Jersey Plan—argued for equal representation for each state.
The Horror the Constitution of 1787 Protected Wasn’t Just Slavery. It Was the Domestic Slave Trade.
Because 40 percent or more of the population of the slave states was black and enslaved, this was no idle issue. Although the Civil War ended with the belief that the Constitution did not support slavery, is that actually the case? Shouldn't this be obvious support that the Constitution did not support slavery? He said, the royal assent, before the revolution, had never been refused to South Carolina, as to Virginia. Starting in 1829, Louisiana required certificates of good character to protect against black rebels entering the state. He is co-editor, with Matthew Mason, of Contesting Slavery: The Politics of Freedom and Bondage in the New American Nation 2011 and author of Slavery, Freedom, and Expansion in the Early American West 2007 , in addition to numerous articles and chapters in edited collections. While liberals, Democrats, and the left more generally prefer to put off discussions about race, slavery, and the founding, conservatives have embraced the challenge with zeal.
An attempt to take away the right, as proposed, will produce serious objections to the Constitution, which he wished to see adopted. For nearly four months, the delegates attempted to work through, and resolve, their disagreements. You can be a part of this exciting work by making a donation to The Bill of Rights Institute today! The delegates debated whether enslaved people should count toward the state's population for apportionment purposes. While the delegates to the Philadelphia convention assumed to themselves the authority to draft a new constitution, their handiwork had to be ratified in state-level ratifying conventions. Are they working towards a compromise or engaging in self-serving rationalizations that the problem would go away on its own? South Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves. Indeed, among the more than 150 constitutions presently operating in the world today, few have been as successful in creating that delicate balance between governmental power and personal liberty among the citizens ruled by their government. Let us then, he said, try the chance of a commitment.
(1787) Gouverner Morris “The Curse of Slavery” •
In the final vote on the so-called Connecticut Compromise on July 16, five states supported the proposal; four opposed, including Virginia and Pennsylvania; and one state—Massachusetts—was divided. Slavery and the Constitutional Convention Historical Context The slave trade existed in the American colonies throughout the 17th and 18th centuries in all 13 colonies. Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. For example, most of the delegates supported the imposition of property qualifications for voters in their individual states. Since slave trade was the most common in the southern states, the rejection of slavery represented in the change of lifestyle, habits, and outlook as a whole was the most difficult for them. In reality, the clause was the product of raw calculations of state and sectional political power in the legislative branch. According to Madison: "We have seen the mere distinction of colour made in the most enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man.
They responded by fighting strenuously to maintain their sovereignty over slavery as an institution, and their claims of mastery over black people as individuals and as slaves. These things may form a bargain among the Northern and Southern States. Although the balance of representation was still tipped in favour of the free states against the slave states, at 33 to 29, it was much closer than it would have been otherwise. He would himself, as a citizen of South Carolina, vote for it. By agreeing to the clause, it would revolt the Quakers, the Methodist, and many others in the states having no slaves. Fearing that South Carolina and Georgia would join the British or Spanish Empires, who would then pose a more menacing threat to American independence, the delegates at Philadelphia struck a compromise with Georgia and South Carolina.
What did the Constitution say about slavery in 1787?
Disclaimer: The publication of any and all content eg, articles, reports, editorials, commentary, opinions, as well as graphics and or images on this website does not constitute sanction or acquiescence of said content unless specified; it is solely for informational purposes. However, the Constitution only very obliquely referred to slavery and never used the words slave or slavery because the Framers were embarrassed by the institution. Ward — History of America, Vol 1. Standing only a few inches over five-feet tall, scrawny, suffering from a combination of poor physical health and hypochondria, and painfully awkward in any public forum, Madison nevertheless possessed a combination of intellect, energy, and political savvy that would mobilize the effort to create an entirely new form of continental union. Slavery played a role in influencing the delegates to make compromises to provide some provisions to appease the Southern delegates without openly endorsing slavery.
From this it might be understood in what light she would view an attempt to abridge one of her favorite prerogatives. Slavery is never mentioned in the Constitution, but there are 11 clauses that allude to its existence. When South Carolina proposed a provision that would prohibit the federal government from regulating the Atlantic Slave Trade, others argued that the whole country would be responsible for suppressing slave revolts, which was enough reason to give the federal government oversight. The northern states did not need huge numbers of slaves, although there were still as many as 10,000 slaves in New York State in 1820. The first decades after the ratification of the Constitution saw the rise of freedom in the new nation. Article 1 Section 9 prohibited Congress from banning the importation of captives into the U. Planters in those states feared that the federal government would immediately prohibit the international slave trade, cutting those states off from the importation of additional slaves.
Together these men would forge a radical new plan, the Virginia Plan, which would shape the course of events during that summer of 1787. While slavery and sectional interests were central to all of these issues, the personal proclivities of the delegates had little bearing on the ways in which they addressed the realities of slavery. Some founders were opposed to slavery but didn't want to antagonize the Southern states by including abolition in the Constitution. Because of this, the Constitution doesn't explicitly endorse or reject slavery. Yet somehow, in the space of slightly less than four months, they managed to pull off an extraordinary accomplishment. Calhoun and the slaveholders right in saying the Constitution protected chattel bondage, or was it Lincoln and Frederick Douglass who believed it didn't? Congress closed the slave trade in the District of Columbia in 1850 as part of a compromise that included the Fugitive Slave Act, one consequence of which was to treat African Americans accused of being fugitives from slavery as such until proved otherwise. Looking back on their work that summer, we can identify a few factors that enabled them to achieve their success.
