Debating Slavery

Resource for Grades 5-12

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Media Type:
Video

Running Time: 1m 51s
Size: 5.5 MB

Source: Africans in America: "Revolution (1750–1805)"

This media asset was adapted from Africans in America:"Revolution (1750–1805)".

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This video segment adapted from Africans in America explores the division among the state delegates to the Constitutional Convention about the issue of slavery. Although some states had already begun to abolish slavery, other states held that the right to own slaves should remain protected by the federal government. What resulted was a debate about the right to personal liberty and the right to own property, which for many included slaves.

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Background Essay

In 1787, 55 state delegates met in Pennsylvania to draft the U.S. Constitution. Some wanted a strong national government, while others wanted individual states to keep more control. After a heated battle, the delegates finally agreed that representation in the House of Representatives would be chosen based on each state's population, which gave more power to states with large populations. However, all states would be equally represented in the Senate. This became known as the Great Compromise.

However, as the delegates began to discuss how the new government should regulate commerce—the buying and selling of goods—their compromise was almost destroyed. During this time period, slavery and the slave trade played a major role in American commerce. So when they began to discuss commerce, the institution of slavery came under debate. Some delegates felt the practice was immoral and should not be continued. Others wanted the federal government to protect their right to all property, including slaves, and not get involved in regulating the slave trade.

After much arguing, the Northern and Southern states finally reached several agreements. Some of these dealt specifically with slavery. For example, state populations would be based on the number of free persons and three-fifths of "all other persons," which was another way of saying slaves. This increased the power of slaveholding states in the House of Representatives. Free states would also be required to return runaways to the slave states. And Congress could not vote to end the African slave trade before 1808. With these and other changes in place, the federal Constitution was finally ratified in 1788. Thus, although the words "slave" and "slavery" did not actually appear in the Constitution, the document supported the institution of slavery.

By 1800, a number of Northern states had abolished slavery. However, the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 made cotton much more cost-effective to process. This increased cotton production in the South, and with it the use of slaves for gathering the crop. It wasn't until after the end of the Civil War in 1865, nearly 80 years after the Constitution was first drafted, that the document again addressed slavery. In the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, slavery was finally abolished in the United States, and Congress was granted the power to enforce the amendment.