How were slaves treated in the Constitution?
1 Answer
Slaves were treated as property not truly people
Explanation:
The three fifths compromise is reflective of the how the slaves were treated in the Constitution. Under the 3/5th compromise the southern slaves states would receive representation in Congress based on their free population plus 3/5ths of the slave population.
Many in the North wanted slavery outlawed under the Constitution.
This was a non starter as the Southern States were unwilling to give up slavery in order to remain part of the Union. This would have recognized slaves as truly human as declared in the Declaration of Independence.
The other option proposed was to not count the slaves at all since the slaves were not free to vote or participate in the democratic process. This was violently opposed by the Southern States since in some states like South Carolina the slaves were more than half the population. This proposal would have left the Southern States with little representation in the House of Representatives.
The South wanted the slaves to be counted 100% toward representation even though the slaves could not vote or participate in the election of the Representatives of their states.
The compromise was to count the slaves as 60% human and 40% property, and allow 3/5th of the number of slaves to be counted toward representation in Congress. This compromise passed.
To be considered slightly more human than property while being denied all human rights, and privileges under the constitution actually shows that the slaves were consigned to being property under the constitution.
