Taking on decades of received wisdom, David Waldstreicher has written
the first book to recognize slavery's place at the heart of the U.S.
Constitution. Famously, the Constitution never mentions slavery. And
yet, of its eighty-four clauses, six were directly concerned with slaves
and the interests of their owners. Five other clauses had implications
for slavery that were considered and debated by the delegates to the
1787 Constitutional Convention and the citizens of the states during
ratification. This "peculiar institution" was not a moral blind spot for
America's otherwise enlightened framers, nor was it the expression of a
mere economic interest. Slavery was as important to the making of the
Constitution as the Constitution was to the survival of slavery.
By tracing slavery from before the revolution, through the
Constitution's framing, and into the public debate that followed,
Waldstreicher rigorously shows that slavery was not only actively
discussed behind the closed and locked doors of the Constitutional
Convention, but that it was also deftly woven into the Constitution
itself. For one thing, slavery was central to the American economy, and
since the document set the stage for a national economy, the
Constitution could not avoid having implications for slavery. Even more,
since the government defined sovereignty over individuals, as well as
property in them, discussion of sovereignty led directly to debate over
slavery's place in the new republic.
Finding meaning in silences that have long been ignored, Slavery's
Constitution is a vital and sorely needed contribution to the
conversation about the origins, impact, and meaning of our nation's
founding document.
