Slavery in America: Constitution to Civil War Amendments

The Constitutional Convention Debate Over Slavery

During the Constitutional Convention, several delegates lined up on either side of the slavery issue, but two men made such an impression with their speeches that they are renowned for representing their respective positions. James Madison and Charles Pinckney presented such strong cases for their sides that their arguments have been preserved as a permanent part of the nation's history.

It was during the Convention that Virginian James Madison made a public alliance with the anti-slavery movement. Madison felt so strongly about the issue that he arrived in the convention area two weeks early in order to prepare the best argument possible against slavery. When he spoke, he argued that the liberties of minorities in America were being violated by the very act of slavery. According to Madison, owning human beings was contrary to basic human rights and should not be allowed or condoned by any American government body. He believed that the Confederation was placing too much emphasis on state sovereignty and not enough on a national commitment to consistent and fair policy and the upholding of natural rights.

On the other side of the slavery argument stood Charles Pinckney, later described by historians as the "stepfather of the Constitution" because of his forceful advocacy for slavery. He argued that abolishing slavery would economically destroy the entire South. Slaves provided free labor, and if plantation and other business owners were compelled to pay for that labor, their enterprises would not survive. He also argued that Black people were not equal to white people in any capacity, including intellectually, and therefore were not entitled to equal treatment.

The demographics of slavery presented a striking contrast within the same nation. The ownership of enslaved people was legal in the South but illegal in the North. In the southern states, Black Americans were impoverished, uneducated, enslaved, subjected to violence, and lived in constant fear. In the North, Black people were free to work, pursue education, and live without being owned. The vast difference in lived experience across a relatively short geographic distance is one of the most striking features of this era in American history.

To prevent enslaved people from escaping to the North, where they were often protected from capture, the nation passed the Fugitive Slave Act. This legislation stated that enslaved people could be forcibly returned to the South if they were declared runaways, effectively making the free states complicit in the institution of slavery.

Demographics of Slavery: North and South

Slave rebellions were planned and carried out by enslaved people who refused to accept being owned or treated as property. Many anti-slavery rebellions broke out across the "New World," initiated by the enslaved themselves, despite intense repression by the slaveholding classes. In the United States alone, more than 250 revolts were planned and carried out, occurring in both the North and the South.

Resistance took many forms, including running away, hiding enslaved children who were about to be sold, slowdowns in the cotton fields, secretly learning to read and write, poisoning slaveholders, and organizing armed uprisings. These acts of defiance reflected the determination of enslaved people to assert their humanity and fight for their freedom by any means available to them.

Slave Rebellions and Forms of Resistance

Radical abolitionists began emerging all across the nation. They started a movement in the early 19th century and gained power and strength as more people spoke out against the owning of human beings. Many abolitionists defied the original Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, as well as the later Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and actively assisted runaway enslaved people in their quest for freedom, most notably through the Underground Railroad.

Prominent abolitionist leaders included William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and William Lloyd Still. Their collective efforts helped shift public opinion and build the political pressure necessary to challenge the institution of slavery at a national level.

Conclusion

When one follows the chronological and event-filled history of slavery, one finds a period fraught with double standards, hypocrisy, and inhumane actions. The existence of slavery in America leaves a permanent negative mark on the nation's history. Yet through rebellion, constitutional amendments, and the extension of voting rights, the United States has ensured, at least in law, that slavery can never again be made legal.