Question
When did the constitution state that slavery was legal?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The U.S. Constitution itself did not explicitly mention the word "slavery," but it did include provisions that effectively recognized and protected it. The most significant references to slavery in the original text of the Constitution are found in the following clauses:
1. **Three-Fifths Compromise (Article I, Section 2)**: This clause stated that for purposes of representation and taxation, enslaved individuals would be counted as three-fifths of a person.
2. **Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2)**: This provision required that enslaved people who escaped to free states be returned to their owners.
3. **Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Section 9)**: This clause allowed the importation of enslaved people until 1808, effectively protecting the transatlantic slave trade for those years.
These provisions indicate that the framers of the Constitution were accommodating the institution of slavery, which was legal in many states at the time of its ratification in 1788. The legal status of slavery continued in the United States until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
1. **Three-Fifths Compromise (Article I, Section 2)**: This clause stated that for purposes of representation and taxation, enslaved individuals would be counted as three-fifths of a person.
2. **Fugitive Slave Clause (Article IV, Section 2)**: This provision required that enslaved people who escaped to free states be returned to their owners.
3. **Slave Trade Clause (Article I, Section 9)**: This clause allowed the importation of enslaved people until 1808, effectively protecting the transatlantic slave trade for those years.
These provisions indicate that the framers of the Constitution were accommodating the institution of slavery, which was legal in many states at the time of its ratification in 1788. The legal status of slavery continued in the United States until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.