Debates About Slavery

Framers had a heated debate arouse the slavery issue about would the slavery be permitted or prohibited in the Constitution. After a close look at the Constitution, it points out that the slavery issue was neither legitimized nor forbidden. The fact that using other words replaced slaves, the three-fifths compromise and importation of slaves all indicated the obscure attitude of the framers treated to slavery issue and they were more likely to not accept the slavery.

Slavery has been a widespread practice for decades, before slowly disappearing. In the period from 1776 to 1852 there was both opposition and approval for slavery in the United States. However, underlying forces such as change in religious morals, the rise of abolition groups and the abolition movement, and support in the black community contributed to growing opposition over slavery in this period. Change in religious morals was probably one of the major causes for growing opposition to slavery. People were beginning to use Christian ideals to support the stance that all men were created equal, as stated in the Declaration of Independence that was signed in 1776 when the nation was first founded.

Slavery was a topic of much debate especially for the D.C. area. The Compromise of 1850 made it so that D.C. would

After Independence from Britain, the southern and northern sections of the United States began to separate as they aged, mainly due to conflicts of interests. Even during the creation of the Unites States constitution, the founding fathers debated slavery. Slaves were considered 3/5ths of a person when regarding representation based on population. This lessened the amount of seats southern states would hold in the House of Representatives, lessening their influence on political matters before the civil war. The Northerners had a heavier influence on laws, leading to the passage of laws in their favor. The Northern section of the United States of America became focused on manufacturing while the southern sections became dependent on agriculture, mainly cash crops harvested by slave labor. Although the States rights versus Federal rights conflict played a role in the cause of the Civil War, a major contributing factor was the institution of slavery and how it should be implemented in the United States.

In 1787 the Northwest Ordinance was passed. It helped form new states and governed them. Then the confederate government had almost no control. The United States went into a depression, farmers had their land taken away, shays rebellion came, and slavery became a topic of debate. This led to the constitutional convention. Many plans were proposed, but only compromises were accepted. Two important compromises were the Great Compromise, and the three-fifths compromise. The Great Compromise made a two house legislature, and the three-fifths compromise made slaves count as three-fifths of a free person when counting population. During the convention they also agreed that congress couldn’t interfere with slavery until 1808. They also

Slavery had always been a part of American politics, as early as the Declaration of Independence there was discussion of slavery. The clause in question was the one condemning King George for the slave trade, yet was removed before the final draft as the framers recognized the hypocrisy of such an act. Nevertheless, up until the 19th century, most people, at least in the North, believed that slavery would die out naturally, so there wasn’t much political focus on actively fighting it. Tobacco and other cash crops were becoming less and less profitable as time went on and most thought slavery would fall to the wayside as they did. Then Eli Whitney perfected the cotton gin and to the throne ascended King

Between 1776 and Constitutional Convention in 1787, ten out of thirteen states banned the importation of slaves from abroad. At the same time, Massachusetts already abolished slavery, Pennsylvania and Connecticut passed legislation for their former slaves. Scholars basically describe the discussion regarding slavery at the Convention as a conflict between “anti-slavery representatives” and “slave state representatives.” In addition, the word “slavery” does not appear on the Constitution because the framers consider it would sully the document. However, slavery received crucial protection in the Constitution. One of the most notorious slavery-related questions was whether slaves would be counted as a part of the population in determining representation in the United States Congress or considered property and thus, have no right to representation. Besides, delegates from states with larger population of slaves claimed that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation. Finally, delegate James Wilson proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was eventually adopted by the convention. The compromise claims "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers reduced the power of the

There was no significant desire among most delegates to abolish slavery during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. In addition, the focus of the convention was on forming a more perfect union, not dealing with the issue

What were the compromises in the Constitutional Convention In 1787, 55 delegates met to revise the Articles of Confederation. They ended up writing one of the most documents in the history of the United States. Each delegate had a set of ideals, or beliefs for the 3 main issues. This created many tensions in the three ideas, and a compromise was needed.

A petition signed by Benjamin Franklin had reached Congress and raised the gravity of the situation being that Franklin’s reputation was just below Washington. Slavery was such a fragile topic at that time that the Constitution had prohibited anyone in Congress from mentioning it publicly. One debater, Thomas Scott had put the Constitution and the people of Congress on the line as he acknowledged that the

Following the Revolutionary War, the colonies sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. In attendance at this convention were fifty-five delegates from all 13 colonies few of these men were of ordinary means. These delegates had different views on what should happen with slavery, how congress would be set up, and with the act of election. Those in attendance compromised on all of these issues in ways different that were considered best for all the colonies.

Part of Lincoln’s election was based around getting slaves equal rights. As mentioned previously, many Southerners did not like the Presidents will the end slavery, which resulted in an aggressive series of events. It was clear many Southerners were upset with Lincoln’s decision, whether it was economically or because they felt whites where inferior to blacks. One of the many statements made against the presidents actions was made by John Sanford which states, “My affection for [the Union] ceased the very moment when the myrmidons of Black Republicanism elevated to the chief magistracy of our country a miserable sectional, whining, canting negro-philist....”. Sanford’s clearly aggravated tone puts into perspective just how irritated many Southerners were at this decision. Not only were they angry, but they actually decided to do something about it, which lead to the first wave of states seceding from the

In the nineteenth century, supporters of slavery used legal, religious, and economic arguments to defend the institution of slavery. Southern plantation owners depended heavily on slavery. Cotton, their main export, required tedious slave labor. Thus, southern supporters of slavery employed whatever tactics they could in order to keep their slaves from emancipation, which worked and extended slavery for a few more decades. As the abolition movement picked up, southerners became organized in their support of slavery in what became known as the pro-slavery movement.

In 1787, delegates arrived in Philadelphia to begin work on revising the Articles of Confederation. Most states agreed that the Articles had not provided the country with the type of guidelines that it needed to run smoothly. There were many things missing, and many issues that needed further consideration. One of the most controversial topics at the Constitutional Convention was figuring out the country's policy towards slavery. When all was said and done, slavery was still legal after the Convention because the southern economy depended on it and because most people decided that this was an issue that should be decided by each individual state, rather than the country as a whole.

A historian once wrote that the rise of liberty and equality in America was accompanied by slavery. There is truth in that statement to great effect. The rise of America in general was accompanied by slavery and the settlers learned early on that slavery would be an effective way to build a country and create free labor. There was a definite accompaniment of slavery with the rising of liberty and equality in America.