Slavery In The US Constitution

This includes slaves, which is why it was so important in 1868 after the Civil War. But today, it also defines citizenship in immigrants and gives them the right to live and work in the US. If we didn’t have this amendment, we would not be able to experience the cultures of other countries, and we would not be known as “the melting pot” of culture we are today. With the power of the Fourteenth Amendment, we can define what makes a citizen, prevent anyone who took an oath against or conspired against the United States from holding any position of office in out government, allow states to make and change laws if necessary, and ensure that citizen cannot have the right to “life, liberty, and property” taken away from them without due

Once again, problems arose. Farmers now feared that the Congress will pass taxes in the importation of slaves. The Congress agreed to permit importation of slaves until 1807. On July 26, 1787, a committee of delegates started drafting the Constitution. Finally, in September 17, 1787, the Constitution went to Congress and then to the states for ratification.

. . [and] can have no existence beyond the territorial limits of the state which sanctions it. ' The right to hold a person in bondage 'vanishes when the master and the slave meet together ' in a place, like Ohio, 'where positive law interdicts slavery '" (Goodwin 110). Chase would not succeed in winning the case, but as a result of his brilliantly delivered defense in the case, and the logical argument of the legality of the case which it had been centered around, Chase had introduced into his anti-slavery cause the additional support of lawful opposition to slavery.

The Emancipation Proclamation needed a constitutional amendment to guarantee abolishment of all slavery in the United States since the Proclamation could not do that itself (Guelzo, 2005). In conclusion, Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves, but the slaves freed themselves. The Proclamation process was an essential step in the abolishment of the slavery in America, although it was not the reason why the slavery ended. The document motivated the enslaved individuals and freed African American people to join the Union, which eventually became a war for freedom. Determinations and preservation of the slaves across the country struck fear in the eyes of the Confederacy (Carnahan, 2007).

The United States of America declared its independence from England because the king was abusing his powers like a tyrant. For example, the king set taxes without consent, unfair laws, and set soldiers in times of peace. According to James Madison, “The accumulation of all powers...in the same hands whether at one, a few, or many is the very definition of tyranny.” In 1781, the United States’ first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was approved. The Articles of Confederation gave most of the power to the states but unfortunately failed because there was no leader, no court system, and no power to tax. Because of this, a new constitution had to be made.

The document states “ no person whatsoever, except the sheriff or gaoler, shall keep any runaway slave or slaves above four days… employ any of them, or suffer him, or her in custody”, this shows the idea of ownership of slaves in the fact that they must be returned quickly, having done no work for the capturer, and there is a small reward upon return. All of these laws are established to help maintain the social and economic society that is centered around slavery in the southern

The colonists were subjected to government without consent because of “virtual representation.” They were not allowed to vote for Parliament. The new government would be a social contract that allowed land owning males to vote for their representatives. Thomas Jefferson's social status was affected by Americas independence. He wrote one of Americas most important documents in history. He became the nation's first secretary of state, second vise president serving John Adams and the third president of the United States.

The South wanted to keep slaves while the North wanted to abolish them. In conclusion, the primary cause of the civil war was not slavery instead was the issue of states rights. The Northern armies won the Civil War and the the South returned to the Union. “The Civil War started because of differences between free slaves states and the power of the government that said if slavery was correct or incorrect.”(The Civil War in America Prologue). Slavery was right at that time but now it is wrong.

The Slave Codes were sets of laws amid the pioneer period and/or in individual states after the American Revolution, which characterized the status of slaves and the rights and obligations of slave proprietors. Slave code, in U.S. history, any of the arrangement of principles in light of the idea that slaves were property, not persons. Intrinsic in the establishment of subjugation were sure social controls, which slave proprietors intensified with laws to secure the property as well as the property proprietor from the risk of slave roughness. The slave codes were harbingers of the dark codes of the mid-nineteenth century. Slave uprisings were not obscure, and the likelihood of uprisings was a consistent wellspring of uneasiness in the American states and, later, in the U.S. states with substantial slave populaces.

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, once said, “The Constitution was not made to fit us like a straight jacket. In its elasticity lies its chief greatness.” In 1787 the delegates from twelve out of thirteen sates attended the Constitutional Convention. They threw away the Articles of Confederation and wrote Constitution of the United States. Many residences were hesitant to the sudden change, but as time went along people came around to the fact that the Constitution was useful. Although the Constitution is viewed as completely binding, it does allow for changes to be made, giving it flexibility to the changing times.