Would you say that the Constitution was pro-slavery or not? I'm talking about when it was first written (and I'm counting the bill of rights)
2007-09-03 15:53:27 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
The Constitution is full of compromises. People in the north wanted to abolish slavery from the start, people in the South wanted to keep it. They had to come up with a Constitution that everyone could agree with so the Constitution allowed slavery, and even allowed slaves to be counted as 3/5 of a person. After the Civil War, the Constitution was amended to abolish slavery.
Between the creation of the Constitution and the Civil War there was a constant argument about whether new states should be admitted as 'slave states' or not. The Southern states were worried that if new 'free' states came into the union, slave states would soon be in the minority and the majority would abolish slavery. In fact the Civil War was fought over that issue as much as slavery itself.
2007-09-03 16:01:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not pro-slavery. Pragmatic. One of the chief purposes of the Constitution and the deeding of certain powers to a new Federal government by the States was to foster the growth of commerce. Slavery, as a tool of production, resulted in goods which amounted to the majority of U.S. exports.
2007-09-03 23:53:00 · answer #2 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it was so much pro-slavery as it was pro- not wanting to piss of rich, powerful slave owners.
2007-09-03 23:01:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it recognized slavery, slaves being referred to as "all other persons" I believe.
2007-09-03 22:59:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋