109:"might well be considered the bricks and mortar of the proslavery Constitution". "But", Oakes adds, "there was also an antislavery Constitution.... Congress was granted the power to make 'all needful rules and regulations' for the territories, and for decades after ratification hardly anyone doubted that this authorized the federal government to ban slavery from the territories.... Then there was the familiar assertion that the principle of fundamental human equality was embodied in the Constitution.... Doesn't the Preamble state that the purpose of the federal government was to 'secure the blessings of liberty' ... ? Similarly, the
31:
160:
Clause (Article IV, section 2) does not apply to slaves but rather to "Person held to
Service or Labour", which do not include slaves, because a slave "is a simple article of property. He does not owe and cannot owe service. He cannot even make a contract"; and that the clause giving Congress the power to "suppress Insurrections" (Article I, section 8) gives Congress the power to end slavery, "f it should turn out that slavery is a source of insurrection, that there is no security from insurrection while slavery lasts...."
274:. The five provisions that this essay lists are the four that Frederick Douglass cited in the section on Frederick Douglass in this article plus Article I, section 9, paragraph 4. Finkelman writes, "This clause declared that any 'capitation' or other 'direct tax' had to take into account the three-fifths clause. It ensured that, if a head tax were ever levied, slaves would be taxed at three-fifths the rate of whites." The essay also lists seven of "he most prominent indirect protections of slavery".
492:
131:
slavery or abolition in a state, yet it was widely agreed that it could not. Nor does the
Constitution expressly recognize a right of 'property in man'.... Given that the Constitution was the handiwork of men who disagreed about slavery, it is hardly surprising that it could be—and was—read as both proslavery and antislavery." Oakes' view is that, "depending on which clauses you cite and how you spin them, the Constitution can be read as either proslavery or antislavery".
130:
Oakes continues: "Throughout the decades-long debate over slavery and the
Constitution some of the most contentious issues arose over constitutional principles that cannot be found in the actual wording of the Constitution. Nowhere does the Constitution state that Congress cannot 'interfere' with
159:
He argues that the Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, section 2) "deprives States of two-fifths of their natural basis of representation"; that the
Migration or Importation Clause (Article I, section 9) allowed Congress to end the importation of slaves from Africa in 1808; that the Fugitive Slave
81:, because of the declining productivity of crops like tobacco due to soil exhaustion, many of the drafters of the Constitution assumed that slavery would die out naturally in the South as it had done in industrialized North. This changed with the invention of the modern
155:
in order to describe four provisions of the
Constitution that are said to be pro-slavery. In examining the history of how the clauses were debated and structured, he argues either that they are not pro-slavery or that they do not concern slavery.
204:
140:
690:
The subject of the annual Thomas M. Jorde
Symposium that was held on November 15, 2022 was "Frederick Douglass and the Two Constitutions, Proslavery and Antislavery". The speakers were
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148:
86:
110:
512:
732:
271:
727:
174:
370:
327:
345:
199:
39:
669:
707:
54:
At the time of the drafting of the
Constitution in 1787, and its ratification in 1789, slavery was banned by the states in
500:
63:
381:
213:
43:
544:"Lincoln v. the Proslavery Constitution: How a Railroad Lawyer's Constitutional Theory Made Him the Great Emancipator"
640:"Is the Constitution of 1787 a White Supremacist Document? Against Essentialism in Constitutional Interpretation".
184:
179:
653:
30:
475:"Antebellum Enigma: Justice Woodbury Davis, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, and the Antislavery Constitution"
97:
Throughout U.S. history there have been disputes about whether the
Constitution was proslavery or antislavery.
272:"Making a Covenant with Death: Slavery and the Constitutional Convention". The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
703:
169:
106:
98:
623:
Creating a More
Perfect Slaveholders' Union: Slavery, the Constitution, and Secession in Antebellum America
572:
405:
373:
365:
189:
119:
17:
127:
held that "the right of property in a slave is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the
Constitution".
102:
46:
in at least five of its provisions and indirectly protected the institution elsewhere in the document.
513:(1860) FREDERICK DOUGLASS, “THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES: IS IT PRO-SLAVERY OR ANTI-SLAVERY?”
233:
Morgan, Kenneth (2001). "Slavery and the Debate over Ratification of the United States Constitution".
74:. Though slaves were present in other states, most were forced to work in agriculture in the South.
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71:
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543:
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144:
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521:
452:
242:
711:
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has never contained the words "slave" or "slavery" within its text, it dealt directly with
699:
691:
557:
349:
616:
Lincoln and the Triumph of the Nation: Constitutional Conflict in the American Civil War
558:"Frederick Douglass's Constitution: From Garrisonian Abolitionist to Lincoln Republican"
665:
577:
553:
496:
317:
267:
124:
721:
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152:
582:
The Interbellum Constitution: Union, Commerce, and Slavery in the Age of Federalisms
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313:
303:
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59:
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declares that 'no person' could be deprived of life, liberty, or property without
448:
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532:
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in 1793, which provided a more sustainable and economically viable crop for
474:
598:. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press.
571:. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: Harvard University Press.
468:
Abraham Lincoln, Constitutionalism, and Equal Rights in the Civil War Era
205:
The Constitution of the United States: is it pro-slavery or anti-slavery?
141:
The Constitution of the United States: is it pro-slavery or anti-slavery?
599:
289:
246:
29:
606:
Constitutionalism in the Approach and Aftermath of the Civil War
533:"Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Limits of Constitutional Change"
117:." The Fifth Amendment, however, was a two-edged sword. In
569:
Supreme Injustice: Slavery in the Nation’s Highest Court
660:
The Sources of Antislavery Constitutionalism in America
650:
Slavery's Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification
618:. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
528:. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
195:
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
489:
Justice Accused: Antislavery and the Judicial Process
630:"Frederick Douglass and the Original Originalists".
354:. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2021, p. xx.
604:Moreno, Paul D.; O'Neill, Johnathan, eds. (2013).
149:Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
584:. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.
376:, as six justices declared unconstitutional the
591:. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
491:. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
712:a recording of the symposium is available here
670:"Was the Constitution a Pro-Slavery Document?"
662:. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
625:. Lawrence Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
8:
286:"Sons Of The Founding Fathers | Think!"
27:Provisions of the United States Constitution
308:Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of
320:, the Second Generation of American Giants
18:Slavery and the United States constitution
642:William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
457:"Frederick Douglass as Constitutionalist"
589:Slavery and the Supreme Court, 1825-1861
225:
380:, which banned slavery in territories
608:. New York: Fordham University Press.
470:. New York: Fordham University Press.
175:Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
7:
632:Brigham Young University Law Review
548:St. Mary's University School of Law
25:
200:Abolitionism in the United States
34:Constitution of the United States
733:United States constitutional law
539:, vol. 2008, no. 1, pp. 349-387.
481:, vol. 65, issue 1, pp. 161-203.
352:and the Antislavery Constitution
369:, 60 U.S. 393, 455 (1857), the
101:writes that the Constitution's
708:Links to their papers are here
284:Krys Boyd (December 6, 2018).
1:
678:The Crooked Path to Abolition
652:. New York: Hill & Wang.
648:Waldstreicher, David (2009).
550:, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 63-134.
433:The Crooked Path to Abolition
421:The Crooked Path to Abolition
394:The Crooked Path to Abolition
64:Congress of the Confederation
728:Slavery in the United States
382:north of the 36°30′ parallel
214:Slavery in the United States
658:Wiecek, William W. (1977).
638:Schwartz, David S. (2024).
564:, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 1-73.
749:
185:Fugitive Slave Act of 1850
180:Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
40:United States Constitution
628:Rebeiro, Bradley (2023).
499:(only for subscribers to
479:Boston College Law Review
409:, 60 U.S. 393, 451 (1857)
676:(review of James Oakes,
567:Finkelman, Paul (2018).
542:Finkelman, Paul (2015).
537:The Supreme Court Review
531:Finkelman, Paul (2008).
473:Callahan, James (2024).
698:, Christopher Tomlins,
594:McGinty, Brian (2008).
587:Maltz, Earl M. (2009).
235:Slavery & Abolition
170:Three-fifths Compromise
526:Lincoln's Constitution
407:Dred Scott v. Sandford
366:Dred Scott v. Sandford
190:Dred Scott v. Sandford
120:Dred Scott v. Sandford
35:
621:Radan, Peter (2023).
596:Lincoln and the Court
466:Belz, Herman (1998).
103:Fugitive Slave Clause
33:
344:The Crooked Path to
139:In his 1860 speech "
87:Southern plantations
696:Annette Gordon-Reed
612:Neely, Jr., Mark E.
562:Missouri Law Review
509:Douglass, Frederick
461:Maryland Law Review
378:Missouri Compromise
107:Three-Fifths Clause
72:Northwest Ordinance
68:Northwest Territory
674:The New York Times
578:LaCroix, Alison L.
371:U.S. Supreme Court
209:Frederick Douglass
145:Frederick Douglass
135:Frederick Douglass
115:due process of law
36:
668:(Jan. 12, 2021).
453:Levinson, Sanford
247:10.1080/714005207
93:Historical debate
16:(Redirected from
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485:Cover, Robert M.
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123:, Chief Justice
44:American slavery
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700:Martha S. Jones
692:David W. Blight
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666:Wood, Gordon S.
554:Finkelman, Paul
449:Balkin, Jack M.
445:
443:Further reading
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350:Abraham Lincoln
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268:Finkelman, Paul
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151:left behind by
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111:Fifth Amendment
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497:Ronald Dworkin
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463:, forthcoming.
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374:held otherwise
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342:Oakes, James,
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329:978-0385542531
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318:Daniel Webster
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125:Roger B. Taney
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363:In 1857, in
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314:John Calhoun
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241:(3): 40–65.
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79:H. W. Brands
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60:Pennsylvania
53:
37:
704:James Oakes
435:, p. xxiii.
423:, p. xxiii.
288:(Podcast).
99:James Oakes
62:and by the
56:New England
722:Categories
310:Henry Clay
220:References
147:cites the
83:cotton gin
50:Background
685:Symposium
644:, vol. 33
634:, vol. 48
346:Abolition
255:146540082
70:, by the
614:(2011).
580:(2024).
556:(2016).
524:(2003).
517:Abridged
487:(1975).
455:(2023).
306:(2018).
270:(2008).
164:See also
66:in the
702:, and
654:Review
573:Review
493:Review
326:
253:
251:S2CID
207:, by
710:and
451:and
324:ISBN
316:and
290:KERA
105:and
58:and
502:TLS
495:by
243:doi
143:",
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706:.
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672:,
560:.
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535:,
511:.
477:,
459:.
348::
312:,
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239:22
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