The Constitutional Convention was one of the first times that the United States had to reckon with the issue of slavery. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state could basically do whatever it wanted. Slavery became such a contentious issue that it almost tore the Convention apart - some delegates wanted the practice to end while others wanted to make sure it was protected under the Constitution.
Slavery and the Constitutional Convention Year
The Constitutional Convention was held in 1787 to address the issues of creating a new constitution from scratch. As we'll see below, the issues around slavery started decades earlier.
Slavery and the Constitutional Convention Importance
Some historians view slavery as the single most important issue at the Constitutional Convention. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was essentially left to its own devices. States that were against slavery could ban it if they wanted, and states that wanted slavery could keep it. However, the idea of coming together under a stronger central government that would supersede the state government meant that Congress had to decide how the whole country would handle slavery.
As we'll see below, the Constitution avoids taking a unified stance, which sends an ambiguous message about slavery. It includes some provisions that gave power to slaveholders, but it doesn't endorse slavery. It created a federal government that was strong enough to eventually abolish slavery but also avoids saying anything against slavery.
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.
Slavery and the Revolutionary War
During the war, the British Army promised freedom to enslaved Black people if they would fight on their side. Roughly 20,000 enslaved people took them up on their offer (compared to 5,000 who later joined the American army).
Initially, enslaved men weren't allowed to fight on the American side. People were nervous that it would cause a slave uprising. However, when George Washington saw how many enslaved people were flocking to Britain's promise of freedom, he changed his mind. Many Black men fought alongside the Patriot army at famous battles like Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill.
The American army did free some of the Black soldiers, but many ended up back in slavery after the war. Despite their contributions to the Revolutionary War, in 1792, Congress passed a law prohibiting all Black men from serving in the military.
A map showing the percentage of the population that was enslaved in each colony during the year 1770. Stilfehler,CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0, Wikimedia Commons
Abolition Movement
Some colonies moved quickly to end slavery after declaring independence from Britain. Vermont prohibited slavery in 1777, while Pennsylvania voted in favor of abolition in 1780.
Abolition is the act of abolishing or ending a practice. In early American history, it specifically refers to the movement to end slavery in the United States.
By 1804, all Northern states had passed laws to either immediately or gradually end slavery (some of the more gradual ones didn't fully end slavery for several decades).
Founding Fathers and Slavery
Some of the most famous figures in early American history espoused Enlightenment ideals like equality and individual rights, yet many of them also owned slaves. Out of the delegates at the Constitution Convention in 1787, almost half (25 out of 55) were slave owners.
A bill advertising an auction to sell enslaved people in South Carolina in 1769. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Author: Unknown, CC-PD-Mark
Supporters of Slavery
Some, especially the Southern delegates, saw slavery as their best chance at wealth and economic security, so they strongly supported it.
Charles Pinckney, a delegate from South Carolina, believed that the Constitution needed to protect slavery. He said, "I am . . . thoroughly convinced . . . that the nature of our climate, and the flat, swampy situation of our country, obliges us to cultivate our lands with negroes, and that without them South Carolina would soon be a desert waste."
Opposed Slavery but still Owned Slaves
Many thought slavery was wrong, but since they also owned slaves, they were reluctant to push for abolition.
George Washington owned the most slaves in his county in Virginia, yet he also said, "there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for this abolition of [slavery]." He expressed the desire to free his slaves, which he eventually did in his will, but never took a public stance on slavery.
A painting depicting Washington as a farmer with slaves at Mount Vernon. Source: Wikimedia Commons Author: Stearns, Junius Brutus, CC-PD-Mark
James Madison is another Founding Father who opposed slavery yet owned many slaves himself. 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." Despite this, he also felt like slavery was integral to the Southern economy, so he didn't oppose it outright.
Thomas Jefferson often spoke about slavery being a "moral depravity," but he also held racist views against Black people.
Opponents of Slavery
Those who didn't own slaves mostly thought slavery was wrong. But they didn't want to risk losing the Southern states' support for the Constitution by pushing for abolition.
Benjamin Franklin spoke frequently about the need for abolition and helped start the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. However, he feared that the practice was so intertwined in society that it couldn't be banned outright. According to Franklin, “slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.”
Gouverneur Morris delivered a passionate speech during the Constitutional Convention and called slavery a "nefarious institution and a "curse of heaven on the States where it prevailed." He pointed out the inconsistencies in slavery and the rhetoric around the Constitution, saying, "upon what principle is it that the slaves shall be computed in representation? Are they men? Then make them Citizens and let them vote. Are they property? Why is no other property included?" He also called the slave trade a "defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity."
Slavery and the Constitutional Convention Debate
The issue of slavery infused almost every discussion at the Constitutional Convention, from debates about the number of people each state would have in Congress to the regulation of commerce and westward expansion.
While some delegates didn't like slavery and hoped that it would fade away, they also wanted to solidify support from the Southern delegates. In the end, in exchange for support for the Constitution from the Southern states, they settled on three main provisions that protected slavery.
The word "slave" or "enslaved" is not used in the Constitution. The framers intentionally did not want to use the word "slave" because some of them were hoping that the practice of slavery would eventually disappear. They didn't want the Constitution to seem like an endorsement. John Dickinson highlighted the irony of refusing to acknowledge the word "slave," saying: "Omitting the Word [slave] will be regarded as an Endeavor to conceal a principle of which we are ashamed."
Fugitive Slave Clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause said that enslaved people who escaped to freedom in Northern states should be returned to the slaveholder in the South. Basically, it meant that even if someone crossed the border into a free state, they weren't guaranteed to be free - they could still be seized and returned to slavery.
Three-Fifths Clause
The Three-Fifths Clause spoke to the issue of apportionment.
Apportionment is the process of determining how many representatives a state or territory will have based on the population (the number of people who live in that state or territory).
The delegates debated whether enslaved people should count toward the state's population for apportionment purposes. Northern delegates didn't think they should count - if they didn't have any rights or citizenship in the South, it didn't make sense to count them. Plus, it would give the South a lot more power, since about one-fifth of the population was made up of enslaved people. For their part, Southern states wanted enslaved people to count so that they would have a higher number of representatives in Congress.
In the end, they came up with the infamous Three-Fifths Compromise. Under this compromise, enslaved people would count as 3/5 of a person for purposes of apportionment.
Slave Trade Clause
Supporters of slavery didn't want to risk Congress stepping in to end the slave trade under the new Constitution. The Slave Trade Clause said that Congress couldn't end the transatlantic slave trade for twenty years (until 1808). Individual states could end it earlier if they wanted to (and most of the Northern states did). In 1808, Congress did pass the "Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves," effectively ending the transatlantic slave trade.
This clause didn't end the trade of enslaved people in the United States- it just ended the practice of seizing people in Africa and forcing them to cross the Atlantic and into slavery in America.
An 1840 painting depicting the slave trade. Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC-PD-Mark Author: François Auguste Biard
Slavery and the Constitutional Convention Role
The debates that arose over the above provisions were so intense that many feared the Convention would fall apart. Slavery played a role in influencing the delegates to make compromises to provide some provisions to appease the Southern delegates without openly endorsing slavery.
Federal vs. State Oversight
The issue of whether slavery should be a national or state issue popped up throughout the Constitutional Convention. 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 Southern states felt that too much federal oversight would spell the end for slavery. John Rutledge of South Carolina, said that the Southern states "shall not be parties to the union" unless the slave trade was left to the states. The issue of states' rights and abolition continued until the Civil War.
Slavery and the Constitutional Convention - Key takeaways
- The Constitution doesn't use the word "slave" or "slavery" and doesn't take a stance.
- Provisions like the Fugitive Slave Clause, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Slave Trade Clause were compromises that provided some protections for slaveholders in exchange for their support of the Constitution.
- Many of the delegates held contradictory views - some supported slavery, others disliked slavery but still benefited from it, while others were staunchly opposed.
- The Constitutional Convention didn't address the underlying issue of slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War.
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