Constitution Vs Slavery Essay

During the time of the Civil War, the issue of slavery was dividing the nation to a tipping point. There were those in the South that believed the Constitution protected slavery, while others in the North didn’t see any connection between slavery and the Constitution in any way, shape, nor form. While the word ‘slave’ is not in the constitution, the term ‘other persons’ is found. This was used to codify ‘slave’. The direction taken on this word in the constitution was that of a limiting action. To answer the prompt, the Constitution opposed slavery. There are two key areas in the Constitution that this essay will examine. First, the ⅗’s compromise clause. Second, Article 1, Section 9, which deals with regulation of commerce. First, the Three-Fifths Compromise was authored to allow for ‘other persons’ to be factored into the population census, “... shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service
However, it gives a certain date to the end of slave trade as an import. This is a prime example of the Constitution refusing to endorse slavery, but rather, starting to plan for the end of slavery. Knowing that the South needed time to progress in their own standards, a 20 year window or sunset clause productively challenged the idea of slave trade. In conclusion, the inclusion of slaves in the constitution was based on acts to support their presence as a person, gain room for representation, and end the objectification of slaves as imports. The analysis provided substantiates the claim that the constitution was mainly opposed to slavery, as this was used for argument during the debates over the 13th, 14th, and 15th