0
Slavery is not mentioned specifically in the Constitution but is implied in Section 3, Clause 1 where it defines how representation is to be determined (by population.) People fell into four catagories: free persons, free persons of indentured servitude for a period of years, Indians not taxed, and three-fifths of all other persons. "The three-fifths of a person" was how the slavery issue was dealt with, because slaves were people *and* property and could not be totally counted as "persons". However, to count them as persons could affect a state's representation in the House, so, to protect the property aspects of slavery for the South, whose support was absolutely essential for ratification, the "three-fifths compromise" was promulgated and accepted.
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoNot even one time even though the Constitution allowed slavery to continue. It allowed the slave trade, euphemistically reffered to as the migration importation of such persons (meaning slaves) to continue for 20 years by stating in Article 1, Section 9 that Congress could not pass a law infringing on that right. Further, Article 5 protected this situation also for 20 years by stating that no amendment may be made concerning the subject until 1808.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThere is, but the wording of it was not quite clear, and that was why the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case was free to interpret the clause as it thought fit, and it ruled that slavery was protected by the Constitution.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoTo be frank, slavery is a great embarrassment to the US Constitution and an unpleasant topic to teach or even to talk about, as I had to do for more than three decades as a teacher. But to answer the question fully, the framers of the Constitution knew that the slave-holding states would not ratify the document unless slavery was protected. Many of the framers, most notably Dr. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, opposed slavery openly, but wanted to keep the US alive as a single nation and leave the abolition of slavery for another time (which proved to be 1865, with the 13th Amendment).
Gouveneur (that was his first name!) Morris, also of Pennsylvania, who wrote most of the text, did a good job of hiding its pro-slavery features, never once using the words "slave," "slaves" or "slavery." In Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, the Constitution prescribes the way in which the population of each state is to be counted. It includes "… the whole number of free persons…" including indentured (temporary) servants and excluding non-taxed Native Americans. Then came the trick: the population count included " … three-fifths of all other persons." Having eliminated everybody BUT slaves in the first part of the prescription, the "3/5 clause" had to apply to slaves themselves. The 3/5 Compromise is the name given to this concession to the slaveholders. Today that part of the Constitution is among those that are italicized, blue-lined, or otherwise identified as no longer operative.
If we can call such sneakiness "clever," such cleverness appears in two other parts of the Constitution. In Article 1, Section 9, Paragraph 1, it was decided (no doubt after some fierce arguments behind closed doors) that the slave trade, the selling of human beings as if they were cattle, had to be stopped, but as another concession to slaveholders, it would be allowed for the next 20 years. The framers designated 1788 as the date of the Constitution's formal presentation to the states and the people, and so 1,9,1 begins: "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight …" This description not only included but in practical terms meant ONLY slaves.
The Framers of the Constitution also had to address the issue of escaping slaves who would find their way to freedom through the non-slavery or "free" states. Article 4, Section 2, Paragraph 3, officially forbids free states' citizens from helping slave escape bondage: "No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping to another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." In other words, being in a free state did not make a slave free, and any free state in which a slave took refuge was required to return the escapee to his/her owner(s).
Without any direct reference to slave(s) or slavery, the US Constitution was written in such a way that the slave-holding states would ratify it. As a matter of fact, the one and only time that "slavery" appears in the Constitution is in the 13th Amendment, Article 1, Section 1, Paragraph 1: "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 Constitution would necessary refer to slavery as it sought to promote and even enforce human rights, but from now own the key phrase would be " … PREVIOUS condition of servitude."
Wiki User
∙ 12y agono it did not because the founders feared that the Const. would not be ratified through the issue's sensitivity in that time period.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoyes, but the 13th amendment abolishes it.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
How did sectionalism and the issue of slavery influence the Constitution?
There were many people that opposed slavery. For this reason it was necessary to include a section that banned slavery for the passing of the US Constitution to go through..
Is slavery outlawed in the constitiution?
The US constitution refers to slavery in Article I, Section 2, named the Enumeration Clause, where representatives are alotted. The 13th Amendment outlawed slavery in 1865 when it was passed by the Senate.
Slavery how important it was in the constitution?
How important was the issue of slavery in the Constitution?
Southern proslavery arguments did NOT include the belief that slavery was?
Southern proslavery arguments did not include the belief that slavery was mandated by the Constitution of the United States. Slavery had been a contentious issue between the North and South since the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Which constitutional amendment abolished slavery?
Slavery was abolished by an amendment to the Bill of Rights section of the US Constitution. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.
Was Slavery permitted under the original constitution?
Yes. The Articles of Confederation do not mention slavery in any way. This absence does not mean slavery was forbidden; rather, since there was no express ban of slavery under the Articles, slavery was indeed permitted in the U.S. under these statutes. Similarly the original Constitution does not mention slavery. Rather, in Article I, section 2, clause c, slaves are indicated in the phrase "and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons." while in Article I, section 9, clause a, Congress is forbidden to an the slave trade until 1808 at the earliest. Similarly article IV, section 2, clause c, established the first fugitive slave ordinance under the new Constitution.
Did the constitution make slavery legal?
The original U.S. Constitution did not explicitly address the issue of slavery, but it did include provisions like the Three-Fifths Compromise that tacitly upheld the institution. The Constitution also allowed for the continuation of the slave trade for a certain period of time.
When was slavery banned by a constitution?
Slavery was banned by the Constitution in 1865 by the Thirteenth Amendment.
How did the Constitution attempt to regulate slavery and what did it fail to do?
The Constitution's framers were uncomfortable with the practice of slavery. The word slavery or slaves doe not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
What brought slavery to an end in the unites states?
In the United States, slavery was brought to end by the emancipation proclamation of President Lincolon and Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which ended slavery in the United States in 1865.
What states never allowed slavery?
Vermont was the first state in the United States to abolish slavery in its constitution in 1777. Other states that never allowed slavery include Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
What was used instead of the word slave in the Constitution?
In Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 used the phrase "The migration and importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit," to refer to the practice of slavery. So in one sense, it is argued that the Constitution has never mentioned the issue of slavery, per se, but everyone knew that that phrase meant "slavery" when the Constitution was adopted.
