Unit —All Other
Persons: Slavery, the
Constitution, and the
Presidency
Constitutional Connection: Slavery and
the Constitution
1. The Constitution’s purpose to establish justice and
ensure the blessings of liberty could be understood
to have embedded within the Constitution the end
of slavery. The Preamble uses the word “people,”
and in Article I, enslaved persons are referred to as
“persons.”
2. The 3/5ths clause, as it is known, acknowledged a
continuing role for slavery in calculating population
for the purpose of taxation and representation.
This clause was the result of intense debate at the
Constitutional Convention over representation in
Congress—three-fifth’s of a state’s slave population
would be counted for the purpose of representation
in Congress. The clause did not assert that slaves
were “three-fifths of a person.”
3. This clause protected the international slave trade
for a limited time, which could be understood
to protect slavery. Conversely, the limitation
could be read as intended to limit slavery as
soon as possible; indeed, Congress outlawed the
importation of slaves as soon as it was able to in
1808. Slaves are referred to as “persons”, which
could be understood to mean they were born with
an equality of natural rights.
4. This clause required the return of fugitive slaves,
providing “property” protection for slave owners.
5. The provision excluding the “first and fourth
clauses in the ninth section of the first article”
from amendment before 1808 could be
understood as protecting slavery for a limited
time, since the first of those clauses protects the
international slave trade until 1808.
6. This provision arguably provided protection for
slavery, since slaves were considered property
and slave-owners could not be deprived of them
without due process. It arguably doomed slavery
since no one could be deprived of life or liberty
without due process.
7. Since Congress is not given the enumerated power
to legislate on slavery, it was reserved to the states
to make laws on slavery. This could be understood
to support slavery.
James Buchanan
Handout A: James Buchanan and the
Dred Scott Decision
1. Dred Scott was the slave of an army physician who
had lived for almost nine years in the Wisconsin
Territory (now Minnesota), where the Missouri
Compromise had outlawed slavery. Scott sued for
his freedom on the grounds that he had once lived
in a free territory. The Court ruled against him.
2. In secret consultation with Justice James Grier,
Buchanan had learned that the Supreme Court
would hand down a pro-Southern decision.
3. The violence of “Bleeding Kansas” showed that
“popular sovereignty” was not going to work.
Students may also suggest that allowing certain
people (voting whites) to vote on the freedom of
others (enslaved people) went against the American
ideals of natural rights, equality, and liberty.
4. He believed states had the power to make laws
about slavery.
5. Since it supported the idea that there could be
“property” in people, as opposed to supporting
the human rights of enslaved individuals, the
Supreme Court’s decision was inconsistent with
the nation’s highest principles. It demonstrated
that a political decision was unlikely, and set the
stage for a Civil War.
Handout C: Slavery and American Ideals
Liberty: 1, 2, 3,
Federalism/Powers of States: 2, 3, 4, 6
Property Rights: 2, 3
Equality: 1, 2, 3
Limited Government: 4, 6
Lincoln and Emancipation
Handout A: Abraham Lincoln and the
Emancipation Proclamation
1. The primary object of the war was to save the
Union.
2. Because the Union Army had so many losses by
July 1862, this forced him to consider that freed
slaves would fight for the Union if they could
reach the North. Furthermore, the South would
lose a significant work force, making it harder for
them to continue the war.
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3. He believed slavery was protected by the
Constitution. Only by exercising his wartime
authority as Commander in Chief could Lincoln
free the slaves while remaining consistent with the
Constitution.
4. Because it applied only behind enemy lines, no
one was legally freed at the time the Proclamation
was issued. Slaves in territory re-conquered by the
Union were also not freed. But emancipation led
almost 200,000 formerly enslaved people to leave
the South and serve the Union side.
5. The Emancipation Proclamation was an important
first step toward abolition. Lincoln changed the
meaning of the war. He said that people were
fighting to make the nation live up to its promise
that “…all men are created equal…”
6. Accept reasoned responses.
Andrew Johnson
Handout A: Andrew Johnson and the
Civil War Amendments
1. Johnson wanted to “restore” the former
Confederate states to the Union while preserving
states’ powers. Republicans in Congress hoped
to severely punish the treason of the Confederate
leaders and guarantee full civil and political rights
for freedmen.
2. The purpose of the war was to restore the Union
and its republican form of government—not to
protect the rights of blacks.
3. He supported the Thirteenth Amendment because
he saw the end of slavery as necessary to restore the
Union. He also believed that ending slavery would
enable the middle and working classes to displace
the rule of the South’s planter aristocracy that he
hated. Johnson maintained that it was improper
to amend the Constitution when Southern states
were not represented in Congress. In addition,
he believed that each state should be able to
determine who had the right to vote.
4. Students may suggest that we still have disputes
about the proper distribution of power between
state and national government, the proper division
of power between executive and legislative, and the
difficulties of race relations in America.
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Handout B: Johnson’s First Annual Message to
Congress, December, 1865
1. Permanence of the Union and importance of the
Constitution: The Founders intended that the
Union of the states would be permanent. The
influence of Divine Providence was evident in the
forming of the Constitution. The Constitution
contains all the elements necessary for the
preservation of the Union.
2. Relationship of the States to the central
government: There is no power of the states to
withdraw from the Union or to nullify the laws of
the central government. The states and the central
government need each other.
3. The right to vote: The President and Congress
should leave each state free to determine the
qualifications of its voters, just as the Founders did.
4. Amending the Constitution to abolish slavery:
The Southern states can demonstrate their
renewed loyalty to the Union by participating in
the amendment process to abolish slavery. Ending
slavery is a necessary step to unite the people.
5. Justice for the freedmen: The rights of the
freedmen must be protected. This includes their
rights to liberty and property, their right to work,
and the right to a fair payment for their work.
6. Equal laws: The government must not provide
preferential treatment for certain groups.
Unit —Advice and
Consent: The President as
Chief Diplomat
Constitutional Connection: The President as
Chief Diplomat
1. administrative or supervisory authority; The
President is in charge of the federal government
and the “buck stops” with his office.
2. consult with the Senate; The president must
consult with the representatives of the people in
his negotiations with other countries.
3. negotiate with representatives of foreign countries
in order to write formal agreements; The President
makes recommendations for official positions.
4. recommend a person for a position; The President
has the power to recommend people to represent
the United States.