The second major debate in the Constitutional Convention also ended with a historic compromise. Although the word slave does not actively appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, slavery played a critical role during the Constitutional Convention. This is not surprising since slavery played an important role in the late-eighteenth-century American economy and society. According to the first census in 1790, almost one-fifth of the American population lived in slavery. Furthermore, the delegates from the South made it clear that any attempt to ban slavery would result in the Southern states leaving the convention. In general, therefore, although many delegates personally abhorred slavery, the convention did its best to avoid slavery in its deliberations.

Unfortunately, slavery was not simply a moral issue that could be put to one side. It affected a number of proposals in the system of government that the delegates were attempting...