Because of the three-fifths clause, some claim that it makes the Constitution a pro-slavery document. But this compromise was meant to lessen the pro-slavery vote; it did not refer to the personhood of the slaves.
Let’s see what Frederick Douglass who advised President Abraham Lincoln, and several other presidents, said of the Constitution and the three-fifths clause:
“—It is a downright disability laid upon the slaveholding States; one which deprives those States of two-fifths of their natural basis of representation. A black man in a free State is worth just two-fifths more than a black man in a slave State, as a basis of political power under the Constitution. Therefore, instead of encouraging slavery, the Constitution encourages freedom by giving an increase of “two-fifths” of political power to free over slave States. So much for the three-fifths clause; taking it at is worst, it still leans to freedom, not slavery; for, be it remembered that the Constitution nowhere forbids a coloured man to vote…
“Let us look at the objects for which the Constitution was framed and adopted, and see if slavery is one of them. . . . The objects here set forth [in the Preamble] are six in number: union, defence, welfare, tranquility, justice, and liberty. These are all good objects, and slavery, so far from being among them, is a foe of them all. But it has been said that Negroes are not included within the benefits sought under this declaration. This is said by the slaveholders in America, . . . but it is not said by the Constitution itself. Its language is “we the people;” not we the white people, not even we the citizens, not we the privileged class, not we the high, not we the low, but we the people…”1
Amen! Father, we ask You to teach us our True His Story once again. Restore the beautiful covenant that You made with our forefathers, with signs and wonders. Let us honor each other! Let us Honor You, bless You and Glorify You and Your Ways once again?!
In Jesus’ Mighty, Beautiful, Holy Name we pray! AMEN!!!!
- Frederick Douglass, “The Constitution of the United States: Is it Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?” (Halifax: NS: T. and W. Birtwhistle, 1860). ↩︎
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I have learned many of these quotes from The Making of America by Cleon Skousen. You may purchase it here.
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“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV
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