The U.S. Constitution: An Exercise in Compromise On March 16, 1849, prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote a scathing North Star article on the racist nature of the Constitution, claiming that it represented the clever efforts of slave owners determined to maintain the strength of their peculiar institution, “we hold [the Constitution] to be a most cunningly-devised and wicked compact, demanding the most constant and earnest efforts of the friends of righteous freedom for its complete overthrow” (“The Constitution and Slavery”). Though the Constitution never uses the word “slavery,” Douglass angrily points to several clauses that implicitly target slaves, putting particular emphasis on the evilness of the 3/5th Clause (US Const.
…show more content…
Prior to 1824, Southerners were Speaker of the House 79% of the time, and headed the Ways and Means Committee 92% of the time (Fuentes-Rohwer). Between 1789 and 1850, Southerners were Speaker of the House for 41 years, and chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee for 42 years. This demonstrated increase in the South’s governmental influence, and the resulting continuation of slavery, was an unfortunate consequence of a necessary compromise. If slaves were not counted for representation, the South would have undoubtedly viewed it as an attack on the peculiar institution and promptly left the Union, a sentiment South Carolina representative John Rutledge affirmed when he stated that “the question for the convention was ‘whether the Southern states shall or shall not be parties to the Union’” (Beeman 324). Thus, Northern delegates “accepted the accommodation with slavery as the price of the Union” (Rakove 74). Thus, the intent of the 3/5th Compromise was not to perpetuate slavery; it was to reassure the South that it would not be overpowered in the new government and ensure the survival of the Union—if only for the
Prior to 1824, Southerners were Speaker of the House 79% of the time, and headed the Ways and Means Committee 92% of the time (Fuentes-Rohwer). Between 1789 and 1850, Southerners were Speaker of the House for 41 years, and chairmen of the Ways and Means Committee for 42 years. This demonstrated increase in the South’s governmental influence, and the resulting continuation of slavery, was an unfortunate consequence of a necessary compromise. If slaves were not counted for representation, the South would have undoubtedly viewed it as an attack on the peculiar institution and promptly left the Union, a sentiment South Carolina representative John Rutledge affirmed when he stated that “the question for the convention was ‘whether the Southern states shall or shall not be parties to the Union’” (Beeman 324). Thus, Northern delegates “accepted the accommodation with slavery as the price of the Union” (Rakove 74). Thus, the intent of the 3/5th Compromise was not to perpetuate slavery; it was to reassure the South that it would not be overpowered in the new government and ensure the survival of the Union—if only for the