First and foremost it is obvious that the writers of the constitution made a conscious effort to avoid usage of the word slave, and mentions of slavery in general. Not once does the word slave appear in the constitution, almost as though they believed the word would somehow tarnish the document itself. Oddly enough through the constitution, slavery gained several defenses. These included the infamous three-fifths compromise, twenty excess years of lawful slavery, a fugitive slave cause, and gave the federal government the permission to put down any rebellions, including those of the slave variety. As I mentioned previously slavery was touchy subject. It was considered a negative aspect of American culture, a "necessary evil", so it was not
The Constitution was open to wide interpretation on many issues including that of slavery. The southerners, who were mainly proponents of slavery, interpreted the Constitution to include slaves as property. They believed that as personal property slaves were allowed to be taken into the Territories of the United States as well as the slave states already existing as part of the Union. Additionally, these Constitutional property rights were interpreted by southerners to mean that “fugitive slaves” should be returned if caught because they are personal property (Document B). The interpretations of the Constitution made by many southern proponents of slavery prove the validity of the statement in question by creating an argument seen as inflammatory by northern opponents of slavery and increasing the tension that sparked the Civil
Slavery came about in America in 1619 (RN). It lasted through the American Revolution, even after Thomas Jefferson scripted his famous lines in the Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Clearly, slaves were not part of this included in Jefferson's words. When it came time to write the Constitution, the word "slavery" was never used. Instead, the framers chose to use the term "other people." These other people were counted as three-fifths of a person for the
From the time the American colonies first began to form the Union, several questions were raised regarding the relationship of the Constitution of the United States and the institution of slavery. A close look at the document created in Philadelphia in 1787 will reveal the ambiguous language pertaining to the holding of slaves, since the words "slave" and "slavery" were never used in the Constitution.
Next, to prove my argument I must analyze the historical background of how constitutional documents affected slavery. The original intent of the United States Constitution was based largely on the effort to preserve a racial caste system-slavery-while at the same time affording political and economic rights to whites, especially the wealthy (Alexander 25). The southern slaveholding states would then agree to shape a union just on the condition that the national government would not have the capacity to interfere with the privilege to own slaves. Therefore, the constitution was outlined so the government would be powerless in its relationship to private property, as well as in relationship to the privileges of states to direct their own issues. The dialect of the constitution itself was intentionally visually challenged, as words like slave and Negro were never utilized. However, the document was built upon a compromise regarding the
The United States of America, a symbol for freedom and liberty throughout the world, was built upon the backs of millions of vulnerable slaves. By the time we became a country in 1776, slavery was engrained in many of our founding fathers minds as the source of economic wellbeing. Each state, community and individual had their own ideas about the institution and whether it was morally or constitutionally right. It is one of the highest debated topics in the history of our country. Slavery, controversial as it may be, was an integral part of the maturation of our young nation.
There are no mentions of the words “slavery”, “slave”, “African”, or “Negro” anywhere in the Constitution, which is a silent but powerful admission that the Founding Fathers were ashamed that slavery existed. During the time the Constitution was written, there were more than 500,000 black slaves, most of who made up forty percent of the colonies of the South. There were multiple compromises created to help get rid of slavery, such as the Northwest Ordinance and the Missouri Compromise, while others were created to protect slavery, like the Fugitive Slave Clause.
When referring to the days of slavery, it is often assumed that the south was the sole force behind its continuance. However there were many factors which lead southerners as well as some in the north to quietly accept slavery as a good thing. John Calhoun declared in 1837 “Many in the South once believed that [slavery] was a moral and political evil…That folly and delusion are gone; we see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for free institutions in the world” (p. 345). This statement was justified by various reasons. There was the fundamental belief that Africans were inferior to their white counterparts. Many saw the slave population as a labor force that
Legally speaking, the constitution offered numerous arguments for slavery and clearly protected the protected the people’s rights to own slaves. The 3/5 clause clearly states that slaves are subordinate being who belong enslaved. This compromise also exposes the fact that slaves were thought of as property. Because the slaves are the property of whitest they are protected by the V amendment which states
There were many different points made by the people that thought that slavery was a necessary for America, which included fear, religion, legality, and even economics. Many people in the south knew that their considerable market remained to be slaves, so if slavery happened to be abolished the economy would haul a massive hit and the people in the south were not having that. Slaves were people that the white man was able to manipulate and throw away as easily as a toy, subsequently because of that they would never get rid of it. Many conditions could have stopped slavery, but there were countless obstacles that made it persist for a remarkably long time.
It wouldn’t be an unknown fact that America is greatly populated by the Hispanic culture. Whether that be a mix of European and Hispanic races, there is no doubt that there is a strong Latino presence in the United States. Because of immigration in the 1800’s, and the overrun of the European and Hispanic countries onto American soil, thick cultural history was buried into the American melting pot. And though both European and Hispanic cultures came into America, Hispanics gravitated toward the west coast, because of its vicinity to the Mexican border. Their culture is greatly represented in America through their art, their identity, and their relationships with others in places like Texas, California, and Nevada.
“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” - OSCAR WILDE, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
In the land of the free, saying slavery is a dark part of the United States’ history would be an understatement. From the early 1600’s until the abolition of the practice in 1865, slavery would be a common sight amongst plantations. The slaves would not stand idly in their predicament, learning how to improve their situations and sometimes reaching compromises or rebelling against slave masters. Slavery during the antebellum United States encompassed the ideals of whites in the North and South, the influential relationships between the whites and blacks, and the controversial lives the slaves led.
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Even though the slavery was introduced in the early 1600s, it had no doubt that the abolitionist inaugurated the movements about the slavery actively from early 1850s. The slavery became the essential part of industry in the South more than in the North because of the large plantations and slave trades. So in the Southerners’ perspective, the slave flourished the businesses with their inexpensive labor forces in order to profit; they argued slaves were by and large a culturally inferior, child-like people who were treated well by whites and thus content with their status in life. However, Uncle Tom’s Cabin described the slavery as an evil institution that must be abolished accurately from the historians today.