Question

In 1987, the U.S.

Constitution
turned 200. That year, Thurgood Marshall called it "defective from the start." Marshall was the first African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. He pointed out that "We the People" did not in fact include all the people. The phrase begins the Constitution. But the rights of enslaved people were not included.

Some members of the Constitutional Convention objected to
slavery
. However, Marshall said they agreed to the Constitution, which allowed slavery to exist.

The "Slave" Compromise
The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution. The word is ugly. The framers left it out on purpose. Nevertheless, slavery was protected in the Constitution. Enslaved people were counted as three-fifths of white people. That gave the South more seats in the House of Representatives. It also gave Southern states more votes in the Electoral College. Thomas Jefferson would have lost the election of 1800 if not for the Three-Fifths
Compromise
. It stopped Congress from ending the Atlantic slave trade for 20 years. It said enslaved people who escaped had to be returned to their enslavers. It also said the government could put down rebellions by enslaved persons.

The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong central government. They needed the support of Southern
delegates
. They felt they would get it if they gave in on slavery. Otherwise, South Carolina and Georgia would refuse to join the Union.

There were 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention. About 25 kept people as slaves. Many of the framers thought slavery was bad. Some of them joined anti-slavery societies. Two of them were Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton.

On August 21, 1787, an argument broke out. South Carolina did not want the government to limit the Atlantic slave trade. Luther Martin was a politician from Maryland. He was also an enslaver. However, he was against the slave trade. He said that the federal government should decide rules for slave trade because the whole nation would be responsible for putting down revolts by enslaved people. To him, the Atlantic slave trade was against America's values.

Political Debate Over Slavery
John Rutledge of South Carolina responded forcefully. Values had nothing to do with it. The slave trade should be left to the states. Otherwise, the southern-most states will not join the Union, he argued. George Mason was a Virginia delegate. He kept hundreds of people as slaves. He also spoke out strongly against slavery. Slavery, he said, is bad for the country. Every "master of slaves" is a "tyrant", Mason argued.

Oliver Ellsworth was from Connecticut. Maryland and Virginia had a reason to oppose the slave trade, he said. It wasn't because they cared about enslaved people. Ending the slave trade would make them richer, said Ellsworth. Maryland and Virginia had fast-growing populations of enslaved people. If no more people were being taken from Africa or the Caribbean, the Southern-most states would need to buy them from Maryland and Virginia. Enslavers in Maryland and Virginia could charge their Southern neighbors higher prices.

Some Give-And-Take For States; Slavery Status Quo
In the end, they reached an agreement. Northerners delegates agreed on no limits to the trade for 20 years. In exchange, Southerners said the government could require that goods be carried on American ships. That helped the North. Shipbuilding had made Northern states wealthy. The convention also adopted the fugitive slave clause. It said that enslaved people who escaped had to be returned to their owners.

William Lloyd Garrison fought against slavery. He called the Constitution a proslavery document. In 1854, he burned the Constitution. He called it "an agreement with Hell." People argue over the question today. The Constitution strengthened slavery for a while. However, it also created a government strong enough to end slavery.

_Steven Mintz is a professor of history at the University of Houston._

The main idea of the article is that the framers allowed slavery to exist when they approved the Constitution.

Which key detail from the article supports the article's main idea?

A
Some members of the Constitutional Convention objected to slavery.

B
The word "slave" does not appear in the Constitution.

C
Nevertheless, slavery received important protections.

D
Many of the framers thought slavery was bad.

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

C

Nevertheless, slavery received important protections.