Is The Constitution A Slave Document?
The Constitution, the rules and principles that the United States of America are based on. In this country new laws will not be singed into action if deemed unconstitutional. Many people would classify slavery as unconstitutional or even as an un-American topic. I believe the complete opposite. I believe that the country of America is based on and around slavery and the U.S Constitution is indeed a pro slavery document.
By the time the 13th Amendment passed the economy of the U.S. had been driven by slavery for about 90 years. The economy was strong enough at this time that it didn't need slavery to drive the country. If the country hadn't had slavery for the begging part of its existence I don't believe that the U.S. would be the power it was today (or it would have taken longer for the U.S to become a major power).
As for the constitution I believe it was pro slavery for a few reasons. Right of the bat you notice that in the original draft of the constitution (before any amendments) Article IV, Section 2 states that " No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws therefor,escaping into another ... shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." In this article the U.S. is identifying the existence of slavery in their country and not only mentions that people might feel the need to escape but that if they are caught doing so they will be sent back to whence they came. I believe that is all the evidence that is needed simply because at this time their were other countries and societies that had outlawed slavery for a long time and yet is still alive and well in America. The founding father obviously identified a need for slavery. How could that talk about freedom and every man being created equal and then blatantly mention and enforce slavery in the Constitution?
The final point I am going to bring up is that in 1850 just 15 years before slavery was abolished another slave related law was passed. This was called The Fugitive Law of 1850. In this law it required all states free or slave to return free slaves back to their masters and plantation. How can this be? How can this not be viewed as unconstitutional? Because the constitution was in favor of slavery. Even with the North opposed to slavery this law was passed just a short time before slavery was ended in our country.
Some might argue that the Constitution is up to interpretation in regards to slavery. I believe that if the founders of this nation didn't want slavery in their new country they would have said so in the Constitution. The fact is that they did touch on slavery only to promote returning runaway slaves to their masters.
