The Constitution and Slavery essays

The Constitution and Slavery essays 1.The Constitution never mentions the word "slave" or "slavery." Whenever the subject arises, other words are used ("such Persons," "other Persons," "Persons held to Service or Labour"). Why do you think the framers avoided these words? The framers of the Constitution avoided the word slave or slavery because they were trying to avoid the divisive nature of the topic in order to obtain ratification. There were already too many issues to resolve and slavery would likely have promoted a breakdown in the negotiations. For starters, the notion of a centralized government threatened some of the former British colonists. Thus, fair representation became an important issue to agree upon and this was worked out through basing the House of Representatives on population and the Senate on a fixed number of members from each state. However, the South was too dependent on slavery to support its agricultural economy and would not be willing to give up the source of labor it needed to support it. With the threat of three southern states leaving the convention if slave trade was banned, the issue was pushed out until 1808. 2.Some 19th century opponents of slavery considered the Constitution a pro-slavery document. Do you agree? Explain. The Constitution was a pro-slavery document. While, some might view the three-fifths clause as a major step forward in recognizing the slave as a person, what it really did was give the South the representation it needed to hold on to the slave trade. With the Souths increased representation in Congress and the electoral college, Southern slave owners won 12 of the first 16 presidential elections. And, the Constitution kept the slave trade legal for twenty years, allowing for an increase in the number of slaves being brought into the country. Further, the fugitive slave clause protected the ability of slave owners to treat the slaves as property by requiring the return of...