Tuesday, June 28, 2011

. The Founding, the Constitution, and Slavery

I was disappointed, but sadly not surprised, to see yet again, another person take something at face value instead of actually looking into the matter before posting it.I I've been on CNN, MSNBC, radio-one (black entertainment radio), etc. and all of the stories on Cain/Bachmann are pretty much the same...something along the lines of:     

"They say they support founding principles and the constitution...that must mean they support slavery....women not being able to vote..."     

This game of equating the United States Constitution with pro-slavery, discrimination, and whatever evil crap those on the left can come up with is getting really old. So, I thought I would take the time to explain the Constitution, specifically the 3/5 clause and other mechanism put in place to slow, stop, and eliminate slavery from the United States of America. 

No, I don't expect the majority of people to care, but for those of you out there who are SICK of the DNC pandering to you over "racism" and using slavery as the justification to ignore the Constitution, this I hope gives you some quick facts, some balls to stand-up to idiots, and the courage knowing others' are just as smart as you!! 

Here are the facts on the United States Constitution that Stephanoplus and Matthews always seem to forget when they attack Constitutional Conservatives, the relevance of our Constitution, and the truth about slavery under the 3/5 Clause.  


Fact #1 The United States Constitution is an anti-slavery document  
The founders, unlike our leaders today, actually had the balls to do stuff. Not little stuff either like living within your means, paying your bills, or passing budgets--big stuff like forming a more perfect union by promoting the blessings of liberty, securing property rights, and changing the course of history. They were smart guys--smart guys that got to the point. They created a governing document that specifically spelled out what the Feds couldn't do and made sure--just in case they missed something--that "anything we missed here is for the people and the states to decide." (for those of you who are lost, I am referring to the 9th and 10th Amendments, respectively).   

I promise you, one of the things they didn't "push to the side" or "kick down the road for later generations to deal with" was the issue of slavery. They knew they couldn't end it in September 1787, but they knew it could never survive along side their vision of a Constitutional Republic based on rights bestowed upon us from God above.  

So, they setup a structure of government that would systematically eliminate slavery over time. I will put this in a modern-day example to help better illustrate this point: Today,  Constitutional Conservatives like West, Ryan, Rubio, Paul, Bachmann, Cain--are creating plans that won't pay off our debt over night; decrease unemployment numbers in a week, or kick our addiction to entitlements with a pill--they (for example, the Ryan Plan) have created a system that once implemented, over time will get our spending under control and tame our need to be taken care of by Big Daddy Government.    

Jon Jay, writer for the Federalist Papers, said the following in 1786:      

"It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused."   

The men that fought for the United States Constitution understood what the issue of slavery represented. They knew in their hearts it was wrong, but just because something is wrong doesn't mean it is easy to get rid of--just ask any of the smart Americans today how much work it is going to take to undo Obama policies--he's enslaved generations!  

Fact #2: The 3/5 clause was created specifically to PUNISH southern states for owning slaves, the Constitution was the incentive to end it!
In order for the south to gain adequate representation in the House they would of had to free their slaves. See, for those of you that don't know, during this time, there were actually more slaves in some states than actually "free" people.  In South Carolina for example,  43 percent of the population was slave. In Maryland 32 percent, Virginia, with the largest slave population, had 39 percent of its population made up of slaves.  The north, which did have slaves but not a significant amount for Representation matters, had two sects within their ranks: those that were opposed to slavery for purely economic reasons (hard to compete if you have to pay for labor but others' don't); and those that opposed slavery for moral reasons (there were also white southerners that opposed slavery for moral reasons, i know this goes against the trend, but it is true..not all white people in the south were racist slaveholders in 18th century America).  

So, in order to compromise between zero representation for slaves (which is what the north wanted) and full representation for slaves (which is what the south wanted) they did compromise. But contrary to liberal belief and indoctrination, this "compromise" was to punish--not benefit the south, and also as an incentive to the south to end slavery in exchange for political power in the House of Representatives (for those of you confused again, "power" in this case means more seats--more seats you have the more voice you have the more power you have).   

And the 3/5 Compromise was formed. The point of this was to force the south, using the power of representation,  to eventually set slaves free if they had any hope of earning enough seats in the House to protect their "southern interest." This was a great plan because all though the Founding Fathers couldn't predict the future, they could easily predict mans need for power, the Constitution put the south, and all those on the side of slavery, on notice, slavery will NOT be tolerated in the United States of America!  

Oliver Ellsworth, one of the signers of the Constitution wrote, a few months after the Convention stated:   
 
"All good men wish the entire abolition of slavery, as soon as it can take place with safety to the public, and for the lasting good of the present wretched race of slaves."   

See, the same way Ryan is trying to ween us off entitlements, the Founders were weeining the southern states off slavery.They couldn't do it all at once (the democrats/libs of their day would have called this "catastrophic" "radical" and probably "racist"  

Fact #3: Article 1, Sec. 9 Effectively ends the Transatlantic Slave trade. 

The 3/5 Compromise worked along side another creative tool the Founders used to make it more difficult to acquire slaves, earn representation in government, and continue the existence of the slave trade---they eliminated it! The Constitution called for the end of the United States slavetrade within 20 years--by 1808:      

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.                                                 
                                                                         --Article 1, Sec. 9  

And I don't know if you caught it, but they prepared themselves for the definition of "property" problem by defining those that were being imported as "persons."  

Fact #3: The Moral Authority of the People of the United States 

Liberals like to paint the picture that every white person in the south was a racist slave owner, all white people in the north were passive racist, and only black people and women had any moral authority whatsoever. This just isn't the case. Remember, we are the ONLY nation in the world that fought a war--in part--over the elimination of slavery. We are the first nation to have a political party created (the Republican party) over outlawing slavery, and contrary to popular belief, the majority of Americans did not own slaves. The same way the Civil Rights Movement succeeded--because MLK took the issue of discrimination to the American people (white people specifically, especially in the north), slavery never stood a chance, and the Founders knew it!  The Constitution of the United States of America was founded under the idea that our Rights come form God--not from man and not from government. This simple idea alone made slavery impossible to continue. The mechanisms they put in place only sped up the inevitable.   

The Founders v. the Modern Political Establishment
Like many modern Americans, I would like to envision I am the product of a perfect human race of perfect human beings that smelled like cookies and everywhere they stepped rainbows shot out of the ground--but they weren't angels, and they weren't perfect--they were men. So, before you get all uppity about their "failure" to end slavery--take a look at the people you've sent to lead in our nation over your lifetime. One party hasn't created a budget in two years, spent more money than ever in human history with nothing but high unemployment to show for it;  and the other one hasn't had a backbone or a platform to stand on since Reagan--they may not have been perfect, but at least they setup a system that actually DID something...even if it didn't happen in 24 hours....as most liberals should know by now, "hope & change" ain't easy!  

I leave you with this quote; remember, there is a reason they want you to think the constitution is irrelevant. 

"If the Negroes were granted the opportunity to pursue the Constitution, they might learn to contend for their rights therin guaranteed...and no Negro who gives attention to such matters of the government is tolerated...the [learning] of government, or the lack of such instruction, then, must be made to conform to the policy of 'keeping the Negro forever in his place'.""
                                   --Carter G. Woodson "The Mis-Education of the Negro

3 comments:

  1. Nice article.
    With your permission, I'd like to repost it on my own blog, with a link back to yours of course.

    It is apparently lost on many people that slavery existed for thousands and thousands of years prior to the USA being formed. It seems to be further lost on many that in America's very short history, one of the very first issues dealt with was slavery, and it took a civil war to assure its success.

    It seems to be astonishingly lost on many people that it was the Arabs that bargained with marine merchants in the selling of slaves to Europe and the Americas, and that the Arabs STILL embark on the slave trade, especially in Sudan. Yet, somehow, the "politically correct" crowd like to make slavery a white issue only.
    So very odd.

    Look, there is one very good reason why the Constitution is the most important governance document on the planet. With it, the government fears the people. Without it, the people would fear the government.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gonzoreality: Yes, please do!!! Feel free to edit, I wrote it very quickly!! I will be updatin it later tonight

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Shelby. I think this July 4th weekend would be a good time to re-post it.
    Thank you for your work in protecting the Constitution, and for providing knowledge about its origins and intent.

    ReplyDelete