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Slavery in Const. Docs (SHEG)

The document summarizes Jefferson's original condemnation of slavery in the Declaration of Independence, which was ultimately removed. It then provides excerpts from debates at the Constitutional Convention showing founders like Rutledge, Ellsworth, and Williamson arguing that slavery should be allowed to continue and that ending it was not "absolutely necessary." Franklin acknowledged the Convention had faults but a national government was needed. Historians interpreted that the founders prioritized unity and property rights over ending slavery, and racism hindered antislavery efforts, leading to the compromise of allowing its continuation.

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78 views

Slavery in Const. Docs (SHEG)

The document summarizes Jefferson's original condemnation of slavery in the Declaration of Independence, which was ultimately removed. It then provides excerpts from debates at the Constitutional Convention showing founders like Rutledge, Ellsworth, and Williamson arguing that slavery should be allowed to continue and that ending it was not "absolutely necessary." Franklin acknowledged the Convention had faults but a national government was needed. Historians interpreted that the founders prioritized unity and property rights over ending slavery, and racism hindered antislavery efforts, leading to the compromise of allowing its continuation.

Uploaded by

buddylembeck
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Slavery Grievance (Modified)

Thomas Jefferson was born to a slave-owning family, and he


himself
owned slaves. As chairman of the committee that drafted the
Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote a paragraph
condemning
slavery in his first draft of the Declaration. He included this
paragraph in
his list of complaints against King George III. Before the final
version of
the Declaration was adopted, this paragraph was deleted.
Read the grievance below and answer the questions that follow:
Excerpt from Jeffersons Slavery Grievance:
King George III has waged cruel war against human Nature itself.
He
has taken away the most sacred rights of Life and Liberty from a
distant
people who never offended him. He did this by captivating and
carrying
them into slavery in another hemisphere if they did not die a
miserable
death in their transportation to this new world. These disgraceful
practices are the Warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain.
He has stopped every attempt to prohibit or to restrain the
disgusting
business of slavery. He is determined to keep open a market
where
men are bought and sold.

Central Historical Question:


Why did the Constitution allow slavery to continue, if the
Declaration of
Independence claimed that all men are created equal?
Philadelphia Constitutional Convention of 1787 (Modified)
The Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was where the
Founding
Fathers gathered to write the Constitution. They had many
debates over
what the new government should look like. This is where they
decided
to KEEP SLAVERY. As you read the documents below, try to see if
they thought slavery was a major contradiction.
Mr. RUTLEDGE: Religion and humanity have nothing to do with
this
question. The true question at present is whether the Southern
states
shall or shall not be a part of the Union. If the Northern states
think
about their interest, they will not oppose the increase of slaves
because
they will profit by selling the goods that slaves produce.
Mr. ELLSWORTH: Let every state do what it pleases. The
morality or
wisdom of slavery are decisions belonging to the states
themselves.

What enriches a part enriches the whole.


Mr. WILLIAMSON: Southern states could not be members of the
Union
if the slave trade ended. It is wrong to force any thing that is not
absolutely necessary, and which any state must disagree to.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: I agree to this Constitution with all its
faults
because I think a federal (national) government necessary for us.
When
you assemble a large group of men, you will inevitably find that
they will
disagree with each other about their local interests, and their
selfish
views. We have to accept some of these disagreements in order
to
build a national government.

Historian Interpretation #1 (Modified)


The men at the Constitutional Convention never considered
getting rid of
slavery. The Revolutionary talk of freedom and equality had been
left
behind; Americans in general and the men at the Convention in
particular wanted a united, well-ordered, and prosperous society
in
which private propertyincluding slave propertywould be
secure.
Source: John P. Kaminski, A Necessary Evil? Madison, Wisconsin: Madison
House,
1995. p.42

Historian Interpretation #2 (Modified)


The Founding Fathers racism [was] a barrier to antislavery. Here
again
Jefferson typified the age. Jefferson suspected that blacks had
lower
intellectual abilities than did whites. These suspicions, together
with
Jeffersons fear that free blacks and free whites could not live
harmoniously in America, made him and others think that the only
way
Africans could be free was if they were sent back to Africa.
Source: William Freehling, The Founding Fathers and Slavery. In Kermit Hall,
Ed.,
The Law of American Slavery. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, 1987. p.
221.

Historian Interpretation #3 (Modified)


Slavery hung over the Philadelphia Convention, threatening to
divide
northern and southern delegates. Even though slavery existed by
law in
some of the northern states in 1787, most people there favored
its end.
Southerners were more unsure about whether to end slavery,
both
because they had significantly greater numbers of slaves to deal
with
and because an end to [slavery] had important economic
implications.
The result was compromise. The Founding Fathers were more
determined to fashion a new nation than they were to bring an
end to
slavery.
Source: Kermit Hall, The Law of American Slavery. New York, NY: Garland
Publishing, 1987. p. xi.

According
If no, why not?
to this
person,
If yes, what was more important than
was slavery ending slavery?
a problem?
John
Rutledge

Oliver
Ellsworth

Hugh
Williamson

Ben
Franklin

Historian
#1
(Kaminski)
Historian
#2
(Freehling)

Historian
#3
(Hall)

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