Metro Lesson 2.2, What does the Constution say about slavery? figure- Roger Sherman, indentured servitude

1. Diversity and
Discrimination
Metro 2.2-
What did the Constitution say about Slavery?

2. What did the Constitution say about Slavery?
Historical figure: Roger Sherman
Event: Constitutional Convention
1787
Document: U.S. Constitution, 1787

3. Slavery in 1787
In the late 1700s, all southern
states allowed slavery while
some northern states did not.

4. Roger Sherman
Roger Sherman a delegate from
Connecticut who helped to gain
agreement on the compromise.
Sherman was personally opposed to
slavery on moral grounds but he did not
want the issue to prevent southern states
from ratifying the Constitution.

5. Slave-owning States
Delegates from states that allowed slavery
wanted slaves to be counted when it was being
considered how many representatives the
delegates should get in Congress.
More population, more reps
Delegates from states that allowed slavery did
not want slaves to be counted for a purpose of
taxation, because the slave owners would have
to pay higher taxes.

6. Slave-owning States vs Non-slavery States
Slave-owning state goals:
Slaves would count as population,
thus increasing Southern
representation in Congress.
And slaves would not be considered
property for property tax (like
house property taxes)
In the best interest for slave owners
States where slavery was illegal
wanted the opposite:
For slaves to be counted for
taxation but not representation
In the best interest for those
Northern states politically and
economically

7. Draw a line to connect party to ideology
Slave-owning states
States where slavery was illegal
Roger Sherman
★ Did not want slaves to be
counted for a purpose of
taxation, because the slave
owners would have to pay
higher taxes.
★ Framer who wanted to find
compromise in order to ratify
the Constitution
★ Wanted slaves to be counted
for taxation but not
representation

8. Compromise
As a compromise, the
delegates agreed that
slaves would count as 3/5 of
a person for the purposes of
taxation
and
representation

9. Vocabulary
● Apportioned-
○ assigned or given out
● Importation-
○ bringing goods for sale into the country
● Discharged-
○ freed from servitude
● Party-
○ refers to a person in a specific situation,
like a legal case
● Delegates-
○ the representatives sent by each of the 13
colonies to the Constitutional Convention
● Constitutional Convention-
○ The gathering that drafted the Constitution of
the United States in 1787; all states were
invited to send delegates.
● Indentured Servants-
○ a form of labor, sometimes involuntary, in
which a person who took out a loan agrees to
work without salary for the lender for a
specific number of years