Framer The Constitution

In 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation as the first governing document of the United States. However, the Articles of Confederation did not give the federal government enough power to effectively operate, so a rebellious group of American revolutionists convened in 1787 for the first Constitutional Convention. The Framers strongly disagreed over the extent to which the Constitution should outlaw or permit slavery. Although the Constitution does contain a few compromises, I found it to be an overwhelmingly proslavery document because of how it failed to offer slaves the freedom and liberty entitled to all Americans. In Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson said “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” The Constitution denied freedom to slaves, and many of the Framers knew the moral inadequacy of doing so. The

The Fugitive Slave Clause begins with “No Person held to Service or Labour in one State.” Again, the Framers are referring to slaves, but it seems as though they are trying to appease their consciences by excluding the word “slavery” from the Constitution. This clause explained under the laws of any particular state, no person held in service (slavery) could escape into another state to find freedom and relief of his or her services. This signifies the tragic endorsement of slavery woven throughout the Constitution, because it fails to offer any hope of freedom to slaves. The Petition of Slaves to the Massachusetts Legislature offers compelling insight into the slaves thirst for freedom in America. The petition states that “they have in common with all other men a natural and unalienable right to freedom which the Great Parent of the Universe has bestowed equally on all mankind.” The Constitution, by no means, protected the natural and unalienable right to freedom for all