The U.S. Constitution and the Limits of American Freedom

Introduction: A Narrow Vision of Freedom

The United States Constitution impacted the development of American freedom in a number of different ways. It established the basic framework for that freedom, which has since been altered only by amendments and landmark Supreme Court rulings. In doing so, the Constitution defined the scope of American freedom — a scope that was far from universal in terms of gender, race, and economic status. In fact, one can successfully argue that prior to its numerous amendments and to the Supreme Court decisions that affected various interpretations of the Constitution, this document shaped American freedom primarily by establishing the boundaries of the federal government and by enshrining the superiority of economically privileged Caucasian males.

The Articles of Confederation and the Case for a Stronger Government

This thesis is perhaps best supported by a brief examination of the document that preceded the Constitution: the Articles of Confederation. That document had a number of significant weaknesses that were directly addressed by the drafting of the Constitution. Specifically, the Constitution was created to establish a strong central federal government capable of preserving the freedom of the country and of the privileged Caucasian males who were considered its citizens worth protecting.

The Articles of Confederation required a unanimous consensus of the states to accomplish virtually anything. In the event that the country was attacked by a foreign nation, for instance, each state had to agree on the terms of raising a militia and on how best to defend the freedom of its citizens. From an economic perspective, each state had its own currency, which made it difficult to centralize production and to form a solid economic foundation for the country. The drafting of the Constitution helped to address virtually all of these issues that pertained to states' rights — issues that had been so central to the Articles of Confederation. In doing so, it helped to preserve the freedom of Americans by providing a strong stabilizing force to counter any potential adversaries, both militarily and economically.¹

Slavery, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and White Opposition

The American freedom developed by the Constitution was somewhat dubious in that this document helped establish the fact that some people were more free than others. For instance, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights made clear that whatever lofty ideals were inscribed within them regarding liberty and justice did not apply to Africans and African Americans who were enslaved. In fact, the Constitution was specifically worded so as to permit the slave trade to continue.² The document explicitly counted slaves as three-fifths of a human being — meaning that they were obviously barred from the rights of freedom, fair trial, and other privileges bestowed upon those considered full citizens.

This provision substantially affected some Caucasian male property owners as well, and would be used to oppose the Constitution. These men objected to the freedoms it afforded because they did not want states with substantial slave populations to gain greater representation in the House of Representatives, which was apportioned by population. Additionally, these men were concerned about taxation, which was partly population-based — meaning that slaveholders might face higher taxes due to the way enslaved people were counted under the Constitution. Other propertied Caucasian men opposed the Constitution because they believed it could infringe upon their own personal freedom. These men largely held that, as the rightful owners of their property, they could do as they pleased on their land — a notion the Constitution effectively overrode.

Conclusion: Freedom for the Few

In summary, the American freedom afforded by the Constitution was an extremely narrow one, largely limited to Caucasians with property. Virtually every other group in the country was not meaningfully considered by the Constitution, and in some cases was regarded as less than fully human, let alone as citizens. The document's legacy of expanding freedom has depended almost entirely on the amendments and judicial interpretations that came after it — a testament to how constrained its original vision of liberty truly was. As scholars have noted, the U.S. Constitution reflected the social hierarchies of its time as much as it challenged them.