Slavery and the Constitution

Lesson 5 Essay
Slavery and the Constitution

From the year 1780 through approximately 1815 many people in the United States were at war. While so many people were fighting for their independence the African Americans were fighting for their own freedom and independence from slavery, while being forced to fight for others freedom at the same time. Even the freed African Americans fought long and hard for their loved ones that had fallen victim to slavery. While so many people in the southern states and very few in the north were still for slavery many were hell bent against it. Many people during this time thought that slavery should be abolished. However, just because these individuals thought slavery should be done away with does not mean that every one of them actually voiced their concerns and stood up for the slaves. For example, George Washington was a slave owner himself, but after fighting a huge battle for his own independence he soon began rethinking being a slave owner. Washington never voiced his opinion on slavery, but freed every one of his slaves in his will. Many people thought that slavery should be abolished because of the way that it violated the slave’s human rights and gave the so called masters total control and the ability to dictate. Phyllis Wheatley was one of the many people that fought for the enslaved African American. Phyllis was a writer who wrote and spoke about the injustice of slavery. James Otis was a white colonist that believed slavery was “a huge violation of the law of nature.” John Allen shares the same beliefs as Otis and did all that he could to let his voice be heard and free slaves. Many people, especially those in the south, believed that slavery should continue. Slave owners in the south were all for slavery continuing because it was much cheaper than having to hire laborers to harvest their crops and fields. Many people in the north were supporters of slavery too, because they faced major profits in slave trading. In the north there was so many hands on ship building, saw milling, etc. These people were for slavery because they did not feel that they could afford the labor to pay for all that they had in store. These slaves made the north rich. The slaves would work from sun up to sun down building a life for the slave owners. In turn the things that the slaves built would be traded internationally and make the northerners lots of money. If the slaves were taken away then the money that they were making would disappear. In the south the slaves cultivated so many different crops with the largest amount in and around Virginia. Without slaves these areas would fail and deteriorate because these plantations were operating solely because of the slave’s hard work and efforts. King George was among the many that wanted slavery to continue. He was willing to do anything at all costs to have slavery be a part of everyday life. Thomas Jefferson was another individual who seemed to want to say all the right things, but live the life of a slave owner. While Jefferson spoke on how each person has the right to personal liberty he owned and bossed around slaves of his own. While it seemed Jefferson was trying his best on paper to have slavery abolished, he wasn’t willing to rid of his own slaves. Finally, in 1780, Massachusetts approved of a new constitution and the Virginia Bill of Rights came into play. The Bill of Rights stated that “all men are born free and equal.” With the Bill of Rights being enforced Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker were able to sue for their emancipation and did so successfully. That same year a black businessman Paul Cuffee started pushing for all blacks to have voting rights. Cuffee did so by requesting that he and his brother be excluded from having to pay taxes since he had not say so in who would be voted into office enforcing taxes. Article 1 section 9 of the United States Constitution made the importation of slaves illegal. When this article was passed there seemed to be a new beginning for America. Slavery soon died down and was completely gone and every human being finally had rights as a human and not a slave.

Works Cited

"Charters of Freedom - The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html>.
PBS. PBS. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/title.html>.
"Thomas Jefferson and Slavery." « Thomas Jefferson 's Monticello. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-slavery>.
"U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 9." About.com US Government Info. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. <http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/a1s9.htm>.

Cited: "Charters of Freedom - The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. &lt;http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html&gt;. PBS. PBS. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. &lt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/title.html&gt;. "Thomas Jefferson and Slavery." « Thomas Jefferson 's Monticello. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. &lt;http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-slavery&gt;. "U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 9." About.com US Government Info. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. &lt;http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/a1s9.htm&gt;.