Slavery in America: Constitution to Reconstruction

20%

65%

80%

45%

James Wilson - Borrowed the idea to count slaves as "three-fifths" people from a 1774 Amendment to the Articles of Confederation

None. All roles are correctly matched.

Roger Sherman - Secured votes for the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitutional Convention

Elbridge Gerry - Opposed the Three-Fifths Compromise because he believed that if African Americans were property in the South, they should be counted as nothing more than property in the North

1708

1865

1826

1808

1850

Stephen A. Douglass and Some Southern Democrats: Each state and territory has the right to determine whether it will be free or a slave state

John C. Calhoun and Some Southern Democrats: Congress has no power to ban slavery, even in territories because due process protects property rights across the country

None of the options are correct

Radical Abolitionists: Slavery violates natural law and the due process clause

Deemed the Missouri Compromise's ban on slavery north of the 39th parallel unconstitutional because it deprived slave owners of property rights in due process.

Claimed that African Americans had "few rights that the white man was bound to respect"

Expressed "judicial activism" by going further than expected in his wide-sweeping ruling instead of narrowly supporting or denying Dred Scott's claim to freedom in a free territory.

Ruled in a way that does not align with constitutional law because it cannot be reconciled with the text

7

9

10

11

15

public

private

moral

legal

Substantive Due Process - Idea that some rights are so fundamental that they cannot be deprived, even with due process. According to Chief Justice Taney's ruling, the right to property (i.e. slaves) falls under this idea.

Due Process (as in the 5th Amendment, "Congress shall make no law depriving anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process") - Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement.

Judicial Activism - The (typically undesirable) exercise of the power of judicial review to set aside government acts.

Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section II, Clause III) - Taken from Articles and 1787 Northwest Ordinance; allowed slaveholders to recapture escaped slaves from territories and said that slaves must be returned back to masters from Northerners.

Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Sect. IX, Clause I) - Congress cannot limit the import of slaves until 2020 except by taxes and duties on the import. This led to Congress abolishing the international slave trade in 2020.

Three-Fifths Clause (Article I, Section II, Clause III) - Slaves will be counted as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives.

"Second Founding" - The idea that equal protections, privileges, and immunities ensured by the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, and 15th) signify a more equal rebirth of the United States

Garrisonians - Group of abolitionists (led by extreme abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison) who believed the Constitution was a pro-slavery document as "a covenant with death and agreement with Hell".

Fugitive Slave Act - Congress created this to enforce the Fugitive Slave Clause. It required Northerners to return escaped slaves.

Political Abolitionists - Willing to engage in electoral politics to limit the spread of slavery in the hope that it eventually dies out without war. This soon became platform of the Liberty Party, Free Soil Party, and Republican Party.