Slavery's Constitution: From Revolution to Ratification

David Waldstreicher examines slavery's central role in the creation and ratification of the US Constitution. Though the Constitution never explicitly mentions slavery, six of its eighty-four clauses directly addressed slaves and slaveholder interests. Five additional clauses carried implications for slavery that were actively debated by delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention and by citizens during state ratification. Waldstreicher traces slavery from the pre-revolutionary period through the Constitution's framing and into the subsequent public debate. He demonstrates that slavery was discussed extensively during the Constitutional Convention and deliberately incorporated into the document itself. Because slavery was fundamental to the American economy and the Constitution established the framework for a national economy, the document necessarily had implications for slavery. Additionally, since the government defined both sovereignty over individuals and property rights in them, discussions of sovereignty directly involved slavery's place in the new republic. By examining the silences and ambiguities surrounding slavery in the Constitution, Waldstreicher argues that the document's contradictions embedded the seeds of inevitable civil war.