Constitution and Slavery

How did pro-slavery delegates justify continuing slavery?

• They believed enslaved people were foreign citizens and not protected by the Constitution.

• They believed that one of the most important rights to protect was the right to own enslaved people as property.

• They believed that the Constitution only applied to white men and women.

How did slavery divide the nation at the time of the Constitutional Convention?

• Most Americans did not know whether they should abolish slavery or not.

• The delegates were not sure whether they had the people's permission to abolish slavery.

• Some Northern states were already abolishing slavery while Southern states refused.

What was the goal of the Southern delegates at the Convention?

• To protect the rights of property owners.

• To make plans to abolish slavery, but only in Northern states.

• To guarantee the rights of all Americans.

What does the word abolish mean?

• To create
• To begin something
• To change
• To end or get rid of

Tags

CCSS.L.3.2F

An abolitionist wants to

• keep slavery

• end slavery

• pay slaves

This compromise created a law that made it a crime to help runaway slaves; allowed for the arrest of escaped slaves in areas where slavery was illegal and required their return to slaveholders.

• Dred Scott Case

• Fugitive Slave Act

• Compromise of 1850

• Kansas-Nebraska Act

As part of a compromise, when did Northern and Southern delegates agree to end the Atlantic Slave Trade?

• 1863

• 1865

• 1808

• 1776

What did the three-fifths compromise decide?

• The three-fifths compromise decided that only three-fifths of the slave population would count towards representation in Congress.

• The three-fifths compromise decided that the slaves would only count for taxation not for representation

• The three-fifths compromise decided that the slaves would not count for anything

• The three-fifths compromise decided that three-fifths of the slaves would count for taxation and representation.