Slavery Clauses in the United States Constitution Essay

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1. What specific regulations/rules does the U.S. Constitution make about enslavement in America (article I: sect. 2 #1; article I, sect. 9, #1; article IV, sect. 2, #3)? 

Article I, Section 2 includes the “three-fifths” clause, which helped slave states gain more Congressional representatives by allowing slaves to count as “three fifths” of a person. Article I, Section 9, Number 1 places a new tax on the importation of new slaves, essentially leading to the ban on the trans-Atlantic trade. Article IV, Section 2, Number 3 contains the Fugitive Slave clause. This clause mandates that anyone who apprehends a runaway slave return that person to the owner. Essentially, this clause makes it a crime to aid, assist, or house a fugitive slave. Source: United States Constitution

2. How specifically is the "3/5 compromise" a compromise between southern “slave states" (i.e., VA, SC, etc.) and northern “free-labor” states (NY, MA, etc.)?

The “three fifths” clause was framed as a compromise because the Southern states actually wanted slaves to count as full people. It seems ironic that the slave states would have wanted slaves to count as full people under the Constitution; the reason was both to gain more tax revenues and to gain more clout in Congress (”Three-Fifths Clause,” n.d.).

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Taxes were distributed proportionately, as well as the allowances for members of Congress. Northern/free states objected, as counting slaves would strengthen their political opponents in the South while offering no tangible benefits to their own constituents. Therefore, a compromise was reached.

3. Also, how specifically is the prohibition against ending the "slave trade" before 1808 a compromise between southern “slave states" (i.e., VA, SC, etc.) and northern “free-labor” states (NY, MA, etc.)? 

The 1808 clause did not decisively end the slave trade; it simply presented a tariff that served as a compromise between those who wished to perpetuate the trade indefinitely as a means of bolstering the economy in general, and those who wished to end the slave trade (“The Slave Trade and the Constitution,” 2012). It was not just for humanitarian reasons the north wished to end the slave trade. The free labor states understood that the southern economy depended on the trade, which exemplified the power struggle between the North and the South. The 1808 clause was a compromise in order to facilitate the ratification of the Constitution (“The Slave Trade and the Constitution,” 2012).

4. Also, how specifically….....

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