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They speak of justice as the basis of political organization: in the Declaration of Independence states that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the Consent of the Governed” (paragraph 2), and the Preamble lists, among the reasons for “ordain[ing] and establish[ing] this Constitution for the United States of America,” “to ... establish Justice.” The U.S. government would thus be held accountable not in just a practical way—via elections, whereby officials who did not serve their constituents could be replaced in a peaceable manner—but in terms of a value, an ideal. The Declaration, in justifying the break with Britain, gives many concrete examples of the unjust governing by “the present King of Great-Britain,” such as “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.” For the purposes of our evaluation of the inevitability of the Civil War, however, we need to focus on the most fundamental element of the standard of justice laid down by the Declaration: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty,
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In fact, the seeds of conflict were already being sown at this point, as the reality of slavery, particularly in the Southern states, impacted the discussion of population during the Constitutional Convention—specifically who would be counted and who would not (“excluding Indians not taxed,” U. S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3), or who would be counted partially (“three fifths of all other [unfree, i.e., enslaved] Persons.” In 1770, the population of the colonies was around 2 million (Roark et al., p. 138), but the slave percentages of the populations of each region—New England, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies—varied considerably. In New England, slaves were 3% of the total population of roughly 500, 000 (Roark et al., p. 142); in the Middle colonies, they were around 7% of the total population of roughly 430,000; but in the Southern colonies, slaves constituted 40% of the total population of roughly 1,000,000. Based on raw numbers, the Southern colonies should have been apportioned the same number of members of the House of Representatives as New England and the Middle colonies combined. Because of the three-fifths clause, the
In fact, the seeds of conflict were already being sown at this point, as the reality of slavery, particularly in the Southern states, impacted the discussion of population during the Constitutional Convention—specifically who would be counted and who would not (“excluding Indians not taxed,” U. S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3), or who would be counted partially (“three fifths of all other [unfree, i.e., enslaved] Persons.” In 1770, the population of the colonies was around 2 million (Roark et al., p. 138), but the slave percentages of the populations of each region—New England, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies—varied considerably. In New England, slaves were 3% of the total population of roughly 500, 000 (Roark et al., p. 142); in the Middle colonies, they were around 7% of the total population of roughly 430,000; but in the Southern colonies, slaves constituted 40% of the total population of roughly 1,000,000. Based on raw numbers, the Southern colonies should have been apportioned the same number of members of the House of Representatives as New England and the Middle colonies combined. Because of the three-fifths clause, the