Slavery the Founding Fathers of Term Paper

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The relevant portion of the Article specified that "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States" by adding free Persons to three fifths of "all other Persons" (meaning slaves). The immediate effect of compromise increased the seats of the Southern states from 38% in the Continental Congress to 45% in the first U.S. Congress; it also helped to elect slave-owning presidents in 12 of the first 16 presidential elections.

Importation of Slaves: Another dispute on slavery arose during the drafting of the Constitution. While a majority of states were opposed to further import of slaves, three states -- Georgia, North and South Carolina, threatened to leave the Union if such a ban was placed. As a result, Section 9 Article I was incorporated in the Constitution, allowing the import of new slaves into the U.S. until 1808. Extending the slave trade past 1800 brought many more slaves to America with South Carolina alone importing about 40,000 slaves between 1803 and 1808, when import of slaves was finally banned.

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Fugitive Slaves Clause: One other provision in the Constitution (Section 2 of Article IV) was introduced as a result of a compromise on slavery. It obligated the Northern, no-slave states to return the escaped or "fugitive slaves" to their owners. In exchange for the fugitive slave clause, the New England states got concessions on shipping and trade. Since the clause allowed escaped slaves to be chased into the North and caught, it also resulted in the illegal kidnapping and return to slavery of thousands of free blacks. (Horton, 2007). The clause was repealed by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery in 1865

Conclusion

The background and analysis of the clauses referring to slavery in the U.S. Constitution indicate that they were put in reluctantly. Most of the Founding Fathers were opposed to the institution and believed that slavery would eventually die out as it was economically unsustainable. However, they chose to compromise on the issue while drafting the Constitution in order to.....

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