Slavery & the US Constitution
editWithin the US Constitution
edit- "We the people," but are slaves people? Do slaves have a constitutional status?
- Art.I §2 cl.3 (3/5ths clause): To determine the # of state representatives in the House, the number of free state citizens were counted plus 3/5ths of the slave population.
- Art.I §9 cl.1: Slave importation banned after 1808
- Art.I §9 cl.5: Slave-produced goods were exempt from taxes
- Art.IV §2 cl.2 (Fugitive Slave clause): Northern states cannot refuse to return fugitive slaves
- Art.II §2, 10th A (Electoral College construction):
Frederick Douglass reframed each of these clauses to demonstrate that the Constitution did not explicitly preserve the right to slavery.
Case History prior to Reconstruction
editPrigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. 539 (1842) F: In 1832, Morgan, a black slave, escaped from her enslavement in Maryland to Pennsylvania. Prigg led an abduction of Morgan, taking Morgan back to Maryland and selling her as a slave. An 1826 Pennsylvania act, required a basic system of due process, before a fugitive was brought across state lines. Prigg was arraigned and convicted in the district court. On appeal, the USSC ruled the PA statute unconstitutional for impairing the fugitive slave clause.
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) F: Dred Scott was a Missouri slave, who for 10 years resided in Illinois & Minnesota, where slavery was forbidden by the Missouri Compromise. Upon return to Missouri, he was captured and sold as a slave. Scott sued for his freedom in federal court, claiming his residence in free territory made him a free man. Scott's master argued that no Negro descendant of slaves could be a citizen (see Art.III). Justice Taney wrote for the majority that no one but a citizen of the United States could be a citizen of a state, and that only Congress could confer national citizenship. Taney reached the conclusion that no person descended from an American slave had ever been a citizen for Article III purposes. The Court then held the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, hoping to end the slavery question once and for all.
Reconstruction Amendments
edit13th Amendment sections:
- Ban of slavery & involuntary servitude (with criminal punishment exception).
- Congressional power of enforcement for this article.
14th Amendment sections:
- Birthright citizenship for all and protection from State legislative, judicial, or executive deprivation.
- Every citizen counts as one whole person. Representation is limited only to voting citizens.
- Soldiers for insurrection or rebellion against the government cannot be government officials, unless overruled by a two-thirds vote of each House.
- Uncontestability of the public debt and rejection of the claims of debts to those aiding rebellion or insurrection.
- Congressional power of enforcement for this article.
15th Amendment sections:
- Citizens right to vote cannot be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
- Congressional power of enforcement for this article.
Subsequent Case & Legislative History
editHeart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S., 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
Katzenbach v. McClung, 379 U.S. 294 (1964)
Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 (1880) F: Convicted by a jury, from which blacks had been excluded. H: Blacks' right to participate on jury is protected under 14th Amendment
Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) F: Arrested for not leaving a railroad car for whites H: Separate, but Equal constitutional
Williams v. Mississippi, 170 U.S. 213 (1898) H: Literacy tests w/grandfather clauses to participate on juries permissible
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_williams.html
Jim Crow Laws
Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337 (1938) F: Black U of Mo. Law applicant, pending construction of Black Mo. law school, deferred to Il. Law & compensated. H: State must provide (within state) equal facilities
Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950) F: Black U of Tx. student, forced to sit in separate rooms and use separate facilities H: State must provide (within state) equal facilities