The American constitution was written with hopes that it would create a strong, stable and lasting government. The bill of right was written with the purpose to clearly state to all Americans what their basic human rights were. In some ways the authors of the constitution were hypocrites. They preached about all humans being equal and had “God given rights” but could our counties constitution have been written with the abolition of slavery? Thomas Jefferson wrote himself “all men are created equal” but he had slaves. The founding father didn’t know what to do about the issue of slavery when they wrote the constitution. The founding fathers were engrossed with getting the southern colonies to join the union …show more content…
Ten states had already outlawed it. Many delegates heatedly denounced it. But the three states that allowed it Georgia and the two Carolinas threatened to leave the convention if the trade were banned. A special committee worked out another compromise: Congress would have the power to ban the slave trade, but not until 1800. The convention voted to extend the date to 1808. Another major issue involving slavery confronted the delegates. Southern colonies wanted other states to return runaway slaves. The Articles of Confederation had not guaranteed that But when Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance, it a clause promising that slaves who escaped to the Northwest Territories would be returned to their owners. The delegates placed a similar fugitive slave clause in the Constitution. This was part of a deal with New England states. In exchange for the fugitive slave clause, the New England states got concessions on shipping and trade. Our founding fathers failed to outlaw slavery because they wanted a strong nation. They made many compromises to get the south to join the