CLEP U.S. History I 036: Constitutional Bargains and Slavery

Slavery shaped representation, taxation, commerce, and political power. Southern delegates wanted enslaved people counted when allocating House seats, though those people could not vote. Opponents resisted. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of the enslaved population for representation and direct taxation. This did not say an enslaved person was “three-fifths human.” It was a political formula that increased slaveholding states’ representation while treating human beings as population controlled by enslavers.

Another bargain prevented Congress from prohibiting the international slave trade before 1808, while allowing a tax on importation. The fugitive slave clause required the return of people who escaped enslavement across state lines. The Constitution avoided the words “slave” and “slavery,” but protected the institution through these provisions. At the same time, it granted Congress power that could later be used against the international trade.

Compromise made agreement possible by distributing power and postponing conflict. Calling compromise necessary does not make every term morally neutral. Enslaved people had no seat at the convention, yet their stolen labor and political counting shaped the new government. The bargain strengthened a union in which antislavery and slaveholding interests would continue to struggle.

Watch the topic in context

Use this lesson from CrashCourse to review the period and its central historical problem. Pause when the video reaches the turning point named above.

Video: The US Constitution, 3/5, and the Slave Trade Clause: Crash Course Black American History #9, CrashCourse.