U.S. History
Liberty & Justice for All?
A Close Examination of a Peculiar Institution
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” These words, written by Thomas Jefferson, communicate a powerful message about the
equality and the rights that should be afforded to all human beings. At the time that they were
written, slavery was legal in many of the 13 British colonies that would later become known as the
United States of America. The author of these words, Thomas Jefferson, was a slave owner. In fact,
many of the Founding Fathers were slave owners. George Mason, author of the Bill of Rights, was a
slave owner and George Washington, the nation’s first president, was a slave owner. Seventeen of the
Founding Fathers owned just over 1,400 slaves combined. These facts are unsettling, but the purpose
of today’s lesson is not to question the morality of the Founding Fathers, but rather to examine how
their actions influenced the history of our nation.
What kind of message did this send to the rest of the country in regards to slavery? _______________
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The U.S. Constitution & Slavery
The issue of slavery played an important role at the Constitutional Convention. The 3/5
Compromise (Article I, section 2.3), which dictated how slaves would be counted for the purposes of
taxation and representation was written into the Constitution. Additionally, Article IV, section 2.3 of
the U.S. Constitution states that any slave who escaped to a free state should be returned to their
owner (No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another,
shall be…discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered upon claim of the party to
whom the service or labor may be done). Both of these references to slavery sent a subtle message to
the people of the United States that the U.S. Government condoned slavery. Wealthy southern
plantation owners cited these references in the Constitution when defending their peculiar institution
(a euphemism used by southerners to make slavery sound more pleasant). If the Founding Fathers,
the wisest men in our country, had included slavery in the Constitution, how could anyone possibly
argue for its abolition?
Which of the following means about the same thing as euphemism in the text above?
a) a horrible slur
c) an inappropriate expression
b) less offensive term
d) a comedic expression
The Rise of the Abolitionist Movement
The U.S. Constitution may have condoned the institution of slavery, but growing numbers of
Americans were finding the South’s peculiar institution to be intolerable. In the North, the antislavery movement had slowly been gaining strength in the 1830s. Many Northerners were opposed
to slavery for economic reasons (i.e. factory workers were afraid that if slavery were legalized in the
North that they would lose their jobs to slave labor). Additionally, most abolitionists were racist by
modern standards. They refused to go to school with or work with African Americans. In most
northern states, African Americans were denied the right to vote.
Books Become a Battlefield…
Image from Uncle
Tom’s Cabin
Cover of Aunt
Phillis’ Cabin
However, in the 1830s and 1840s, many people began to oppose slavery for
moral reasons. Newspapers and books gave northerners a first hand look at the
South’s peculiar institution. In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison published the first edition
of the Liberator. The Liberator was a weekly newspaper that reported on the atrocities
of slavery and called for its immediate abolition. While the newspaper had a small
following at first (only 400 subscribers in 1832), it eventually grew. Garrison was
known for going to extreme measures to promote his beliefs. In 1841 he publicly
burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution, claiming that it was an unjust document
because of the passages that referred to slavery. These actions, while frowned upon by
many, drew in many more readers to his paper. In 1845, Frederick Douglass, an
escaped slave from Maryland, published a written account of his horrendous
experience as a slave. His book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, was the
first time that many white Americans were exposed to the horrible realities of slavery.
Reading his story caused many northerners to become abolitionists for moral reasons.
Just as anti-slavery and proslavery forces clashed over political issues in
Washington, D.C., these forces also clashed in publishing houses as well. In 1852,
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published. This fictional
account of slavery dramatically portrayed the moral issues of slavery. Stowe’s book,
which portrayed slave owners as cruel, immoral people, was wildly popular in the
North. It sold over 300,000 copies in its first year of publication. Southerners
criticized the book as an inaccurate portrayal of slavery. Angry southern writers
decided to fight fire with fire. The most famous pro-slavery novel was Aunt Phillis’
Cabin, written by Mary Henderson Eastman.Her novel painted slavery as a system that
helped to improve the lives of enslaved people. Eastman’s novel was popular in the
South (selling around 25,000 copies in its first year of publication), but it did not
have the influence of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Do you think that books were powerful tools that could really change people’s minds about slavery in
the 1830 – 1850s? _____________________________________________________________________
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Name:
Date:
Core:
U.S. History
Liberty & Justice for All?
Reflection Questions…
Directions: Use the Liberty & Justice for All: A Close Examination of a Peculiar Institution handout
to answer the following questions.
Fact Check…
1. What does the expression “ssocial cause of war” mean? _________________________________
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2. True or False. The Founding Fathers were strongly opposed to the institution of slavery.
I think that this statement is ___________________ (true or false) because in the text it says:
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3. True or False. The U.S. Constitution sent a message to the American people that slavery was a
bad thing.
I think that this statement is ___________________ (true or false) because in the text it says:
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4.
Which of the following people should not be classified as an abolitionist?
a. William Lloyd Garrison
b. Frederick Douglass
c. Harriet Beecher Stowe
d. Mary Henderson Eastman
I chose answer choice ___ because: _________________________________________________
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5. What was the Liberator? _________________________________________________________
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Reader Response… Answer the question below using ATITIC.
You must use both the picture
and the article as text evidence (i.e. In the picture I see, it the text it says…)
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Look at the image below. Do you think this drawing was published in Uncle Tom’s
Cabin or Aunt Phillis’s Cabin? Support your answer with information from the text.
Be sure to reference specific aspects of the drawing in your response (ATIC)
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Exemplary
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Insightful, well
organized, and fluent
Deep understanding
of text is
demonstrated
Specific references to
text are used to
support ideas
Text references are
well interpreted and
clearly connected to
response
3
Proficient
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Thoughtful, organized,
and fluent
Clear understanding of
the text is
demonstrated
Relevant references to
text are used to
support ideas
Text references are
explained and
connected to response
2
Progressing
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Organized and
somewhat fluent
Basic understanding
of text is displayed
At least one relevant
example from text is
used to support ideas
Text references are
somewhat connected
to response
1
Beginning
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Disorganized or
confusing
Limited or no
understanding of text is
displayed
Limited or no examples
from text are used to
support ideas
Text reference seems
irrelevant to response