Existing comment:
The United States Constitution
The U.S. Constitution did not explicitly mention slavery, slaves, or freed blacks in the original text. Framers of the U.S. Constitution inserted the three-fifths compromise, in which slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person, for the purpose of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives -- - thereby increasing the power of the slave states in Congress. The U.S. Constitution also contained a fugitive slave clause, which referred only to persons "held to service or labour," and enforced the rights of slaveholders to reclaim runaway slaves. In addition, the U.S. Constitution prohibited the importation of slaves after 1808, but the language did not refer to Africans. The inclusion of these clauses in the nation's founding document is a testament to the economic and political influence of the institution of slavery at the founding of the country. |