The Bill of Rights seemed to be written in broad language that excluded no one, but in fact, it was not intended to protect all the people — whole groups were left out. Women were second-class citizens, essentially the property of their husbands, unable even to vote until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was passed and ratified.
Native Americans were entirely outside the constitutional system, defined as an alien people in their own land. They were governed not by ordinary American laws, but by federal treaties and statutes that stripped tribes of most of their land and much of their autonomy. The Bill of Rights was in force for nearly 135 years before Congress granted Native Americans U.S. citizenship.
And it was well understood that there was a “race exception” to the Constitution. Slavery was this country's original sin. For the first 78 years after it was ratified, the Constitution protected slavery and legalized racial subordination. Instead of constitutional rights, slaves were governed by “slave codes” that controlled every aspect of their lives. They had no access to the rule of law: they could not go to court, make contracts, or own any property. They could be whipped, branded, imprisoned without trial, and hanged. In short, as one infamous Supreme Court opinion declared: “Blacks had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
It would take years of struggle and a bloody civil war before additional amendments to the Constitution were passed, giving slaves and their descendants the full rights of citizenship — at least on paper:
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery;
The 14th Amendment guaranteed to African Americans the right of due process and equal protection of the law;
The 15th Amendment gave them the right to vote;
But it would take a century more of struggle before these rights were effectively enforced.
Why was there a "race exception" to the Constitution?
Slaves were not granted rights provided by the Constitution.
Slaves did not abide by the principles of the Constitution.
Slaves were uneducated and could not read the Constitution.
Slaves created their own version of the Constitution.
1 answer
The correct answer to the question "Why was there a 'race exception' to the Constitution?" is:
Slaves were not granted rights provided by the Constitution.
This is supported by the historical context outlined in your passage, which explains how the original Constitution both explicitly and implicitly allowed for the practice of slavery and racial subordination, rendering Black individuals without rights or protections under the law.
