RUNNING HEAD: US Constitution and Slavery

Cardinal Stritch University

Instructor: Judge David Bastianelli

American Government and Politics – ASB 118

DLU 08 0893

May 22, 2012

US Constitution and Slavery The U.S. Constitution established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, by George Washington. Under America's first governing document, the Articles of Confederation, the national government was weak and states operated like independent countries. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger federal government with three branches--executive, legislative and judicial along with a system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights is 10 amendments guaranteeing basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religion which became part of the Constitution in 1791. America's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was approved in 1781, a time when the nation was a confederation of states that each operated like independent countries. The debate of the constitution focused on contentious issues like the question of state representation in the national legislature and slavery.
Slavery
The American Civil War approximately 4 million enslaved African Americans lived in the southern region of the United States of America. The vast majority worked as plantation slaves in the production of cotton, sugar, and tobacco. Very few of these enslaved people were African born principally because the importation of enslaved Africans to the United States officially ended in 1808, although thousands were smuggled into the nation illegally in the 50 years following the ban on the international trade. These