Premium Essay

Constitutional Convention's Debates On Slavery

Submitted By
Words 1962
Pages 8
Primary Source Paper 2
Identify and Summarize
The Constitutional Convention’s Debates on Slavery took place in 1787 and was reported by James Madison. James Madison was a white male born in Virginia and was the leading delegate for his state of Virginia in the Constitutional Convention’s Debates on Slavery. He also became the chief recorder of information because he took an abundance of detailed notes.
The notes that James Madison took during the Debates on Slavery were published right after the convention concluded. It was published for the public to view in the thirteen states, even though Rhode Island did not have a representative at the convention. It was the public who pushed for the delegates to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles …show more content…
The delegates present wanted to reform the Articles of Confederation due to the weak central government that existed under it. Once coming together they wanted to create radical change, the Articles of Confederation turned into the Constitution where all the the changes they needed and wanted to make reside. One of the big topics discussed at the convention was the issue of slavery, and whether it should stay or go. The delegates and many of the nation’s founders wanted slavery to be abolished. They wanted to do so by “slow, sure, and imperceptible degrees (Koch 139),” so that the southern economies that were based mainly on slave labor did not have economic ruin. The south wanted slavery to continue, because everything the slaves did they counted on for money. Many people worried that if slavery were to be banned that the south would to try to secede away from the union. Mr. L. Martin of Maryland proposed “to allow a prohibition or tax on the importation of slaves (Madison 139),” this was shot down by many of the other delegates, saying they should “leave the clause as it stands (139).” Col. Mason states that the states have a choice whether or not to import slaves, and it should be “the General Government who should have the ultimate power to prevent the increase of slavery (140).” Mr. Elsworth offered instead of putting a tax on the importation of slaves, start raising them in the United States, it would be cheaper for everyone. He also goes on to say that slavery would potentially die out on its own because “as the population increases poor laborers will be so plentiful that slaves would be rendered useless (140).” Mr. Sherman gave the point that it would not be a good idea to tax slaves being imported because it would then make matters worse, because it would imply they were “property.” Ten states had already outlawed slavery, it was the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Ellsworth And Sherman Argumentative Analysis

...As the necessity for a more substantiated form of central government materialized, state delegates convened in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to reform the Articles of Confederation. The fundamental issue at stake was the apportioning of legislative control under the new government. The Virginia Plan, favored by the large states, offered a bicameral legislature having representation proportional to each state’s population. The plan was repudiated by smaller states in support of the New Jersey Plan as it provided for the retention of equal membership in Congress established under the Articles. Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman, both of Connecticut, and their allies understood that “proportional representation would sharply reduce the weight their states enjoyed in national politics” (Rakove, 1987). Even though both plans included provisions for an executive and judiciary branch of government, neither side of the opposing states would yield over the issue of representation. Concessions over the institution of slavery were also sought at the Convention. In protecting their interests in the new government, the Southern...

Words: 471 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

French Revolution Biographies

...educated in Paris, graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and earning a law degree in 1781. He became a lawyer in his home town and lived comfortably with a moderate income. Robespierre then took on a public role, calling for political change in the French monarchy. He became a great follower of social philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, intrigued by the idea of a virtuous man who stands alone accompanied only by his conscience. He was very influenced by the enlightenment and wanted equality and freedom by a means of intellectual debate and practical demonstration. He gained a reputation for defending the poorest of society and earned the nickname "the incorruptible" for his adherence to strict moral values. At age 30, Robespierre was elected to the Estates General of the French legislature. He became increasingly popular with the people for his attacks on the French monarchy and his advocacy for democratic reforms. He also opposed the death penalty and slavery. He was very much a liberal thinker and spread (with the enlightenment) liberal views across France, particularly the third estate. Some of his colleagues saw his refusal to compromise and his rigid stand against all authority as extreme and impractical. After a time he left the legislature to push his agenda outside of government. In April 1789, Robespierre was elected president of the powerful Jacobin political faction. In 1790 he participated in writing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, the...

Words: 3748 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Mister

...Contents Title Page Dedication Prologue CHAPTER ONE: Republicans and Democrats CHAPTER TWO: Values CHAPTER THREE: Our Constitution CHAPTER FOUR: Politics CHAPTER FIVE: Opportunity CHAPTER SIX: Faith CHAPTER SEVEN: Race CHAPTER EIGHT: The World Beyond Our Borders CHAPTER NINE: Family Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Barack Obama Copyright Prologue IT’S BEEN ALMOST ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time, four years out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in the Illinois legislature had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking that my work as a civil rights lawyer, and contacts from my days as a community organizer, would make me a viable candidate. After discussing it with my wife, I entered the race and proceeded to do what every first-time candidate does: I talked to anyone who would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty shops and barbershops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I’d get some version of the same two questions. “Where’d you get that funny name?” And then: “You seem like a nice enough guy. Why do you want to go into something dirty and nasty like politics?” I was familiar with the question, a variant on the questions asked of me years earlier, when I’d first arrived in Chicago to work in low-income neighborhoods. It signaled a cynicism...

Words: 120305 - Pages: 482

Premium Essay

French Revolution (Timeline)

...French Revolution AOS 1 Revs Revision Notes – Part I AOS 1 – French Revolution Index: 1. PRE REVOLUTION FRANCE a. France in the 18th Century b. Power and Limitations of the King c. Privilege and its Spread d. Frances Taxes (How and What) e. The Estates 2. IDEAS, INPUTS AND CAUSES a. Very Short List of Causes of the Revolution b. Shift to Sensibility c. American Revolution Input d. The Liberal Economic Theory (Physiocracy) e. The Philosophes 3. FINANCIAL CRISIS AND MANAGEMENT a. Frances Financial Crisis b. Frances Finance Ministers (Comptroller-General) c. Compte Rendu d. Parlements and Their Role e. Assembly of Notables and Their Role 4. EVENTS PRECEEDING AND DURING EXILE AND RECALL OF PARLEMENTS a. Ségur Ordinance b. Diamond Necklace Affair c. Eden Treaty d. Calling of the Assembly of Notables e. The Dutch Crisis (Spring 1787) f. Last Chance with the Notables g. Notables Dissolved h. Attempts to Pass Reforms at the Parlements i. Exile and Recall of the Parlements j. Society of Thirty 5. EVENTS PRECEEDING CALL OF ESTATES GENERAL a. The Reduction of Parlement’s Rights b. The Day of Tiles (Grenoble) c. The Famine of 1788 d. The Calling of the Estates-General 6. ESTATES-GENERAL ...

Words: 32945 - Pages: 132

Premium Essay

Bas Bhat

...CRIME, PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE IN A COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT This book aims to honour the work of Professor Mirjan Damaška, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a prominent authority for many years in the fields of comparative law, procedural law, evidence, international criminal law and Continental legal history. Professor Damaška’s work is renowned for providing new frameworks for understanding different legal traditions. To celebrate the depth and richness of his work and discuss its implications for the future, the editors have brought together an impressive range of leading scholars from different jurisdictions in the fields of comparative and international law, evidence and criminal law and procedure. Using Professor Damaška’s work as a backdrop, the essays make a substantial contribution to the development of comparative law, procedure and evidence. After an introduction by the editors and a tribute by Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, the book is divided into four parts. The first part considers contemporary trends in national criminal procedure, examining cross-fertilisation and the extent to which these trends are resulting in converging practices across national jurisdictions. The second part explores the epistemological environment of rules of evidence and procedure. The third part analyses human rights standards and the phenomenon of hybridisation in transnational and international criminal law. The final part of the book assesses Professor...

Words: 195907 - Pages: 784

Premium Essay

Mgmt 470 Test Bank 1-4

...Chapter 01 Globalization Answer Key True / False Questions 1. As a result of globalization, we have been moving toward a world in which national economies are (p. 7) relatively self-contained entities. FALSE Over the past three decades a fundamental shift has been occurring in the world economy. We have been moving away from a world in which national economies were relatively self-contained entities. AACSB: Analytic Blooms: Remember Difficulty: 1 Easy Learning Objective: 01-01 Understand what is meant by the term globalization. Topic: Introduction 2. By offering the same basic product worldwide, firms help to create a global market. TRUE Consumer products such as Citigroup credit cards, Coca-Cola soft drinks, video games, McDonald’s hamburgers, Starbucks coffee, and IKEA furniture are frequently held up as prototypical examples of this trend. The firms that produce these products are more than just benefactors of this trend; they are also facilitators of it. By offering the same basic product worldwide, they help to create a global market. AACSB: Analytic Blooms: Remember Difficulty: 1 Easy Learning Objective: 01-01 Understand what is meant by the term globalization. Topic: What Is Globalization? 3. A company has to be the size of a multinational giant to facilitate, and benefit from, the globalization of markets. FALSE A company does not have to be the size of multinational giants to facilitate, and benefit from, the ...

Words: 87342 - Pages: 350

Premium Essay

California an Interpretive History - Rawls, James

...CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA An Interpretive History TENTH EDITION James J. Rawls Instructor of History Diablo Valley College Walton Bean Late Professor of History University of California, Berkeley TM TM CALIFORNIA: AN INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born...

Words: 248535 - Pages: 995

Free Essay

Living History

...___________________________ LIVING HISTORY Hillary Rodham Clinton Simon & Schuster New York • London • Toronto • Sydney • Singapore To my parents, my husband, my daughter and all the good souls around the world whose inspiration, prayers, support and love blessed my heart and sustained me in the years of living history. AUTHOR’S NOTE In 1959, I wrote my autobiography for an assignment in sixth grade. In twenty-nine pages, most half-filled with earnest scrawl, I described my parents, brothers, pets, house, hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir, this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning―how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ways. By the time I crossed the threshold of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing, education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch conservative father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described...

Words: 217937 - Pages: 872

Premium Essay

Law of Trust

...Consolidated Reader-Friendly Edition of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon (2007) 2008 1 THE LISBON TREATY The Readable Version Editor: Jens-Peter Bonde © IND/DEM Group in the European Parliament email: jp@bonde.dk Cover: Henry Abela Publisher: Foundation for EU Democracy Printed at Notat Grafisk, Denmark - 2008 ISBN: 87-87692-72-4 EAN: 978-87-87692-72-4 2 Introduction The Treaty of Lisbon changed name from the "Reform Treaty" when it was amended and signed in Lisbon, Portugal, by the prime ministers and foreign ministers of the 27 EU Member States on 13 December 2007. The treaty retains most of the content of the proposed EU Constitution which was rejected in the French and Dutch referendums on 29 May and 1 June 2005, respectively. The Lisbon Treaty amends the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), which is renamed "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union" (TFEU). Following the parliamentary ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by all Member States by the end of 2008, it is aimed to have the Treaty come into force on 1 January 2009. Whereas the EU Constitution was to be subjected to a referendum in ten Member States, only Ireland is holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. This is a consolidated version of the Treaty of Lisbon, including all articles in the TEU and the TFEU as amended by the Treaty...

Words: 176192 - Pages: 705

Free Essay

Jrotc

...9 July 2010 1 LET 1 Table of Contents Unit 1 - Citizenship in Action Chapter 1: Foundations of Army JROTC and Getting Involved U1-C1-L1 Army JROTC - The Making of a Better Citizen U1-C1-L2 The Past and Purpose of Army JROTC U1-C1-L3 Moving Up in Army JROTC - Rank and Structure U1-C1-L4 The Signs of Success U1-C1-L5 Your Personal Appearance and Uniform U1-C1-L6 The Stars and Stripes U1-C1-L7 Proudly We Sing - The National Anthem U1-C1-L8 American Military Traditions, Customs, and Courtesies 3 9 13 21 25 37 45 51 Unit 2 - Leadership Theory and Application Chapter 1: Being a Leader U2-C1-L1 Leadership Defined U2-C1-L2 Leadership Reshuffled U2-C1-L3 Leadership from the Inside Out U2-C1-L4 Principles and Leadership U2-C1-L5 Sexual Harassment/Assault Chapter 2: Leadership Skills U2-C2-L1 Steps from the Past U2-C2-L2 Roles of Leaders and Followers in Drill U2-C2-L3 Using Your Leadership Skills/Taking Charge 57 61 67 73 77 81 85 89 Unit 3 - Foundations for Success Chapter 1: Know Yourself – Socrates U3-C1-L1 Self Awareness U3-C1-L2 Appreciating Diversity through Winning Colors U3-C1-L3 Personal Growth Plan U3-C1-L4 Becoming an Active Learner U3-C1-L5 Pathways To Success (QBOL) Chapter 2: Learning to Learn U3-C2-L1 Brain Structure and Function U3-C2-L2 Left and Right Brain Functions U3-C2-L3 Learning Style and Processing Preferences U3-C2-L4 Multiple Intelligences Chapter 3: Study Skills U3-C3-L1 ...

Words: 73170 - Pages: 293