A slaveholders' union : slavery, politics, and the constitution in the early American Republic / George William Van Cleve.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Van Cleve, George, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery--History--18th century.

Slavery.

Slavery--History--19th century.

Slavery--Political aspects--United States.

Slavery--Law and legislation--United States--History--18th century.

Slavery--Law and legislation--United States--History--19th century.

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.

United States.

United States--History--1783-1815.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (403 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

After its early introduction into the English colonies in North America, slavery in the United States lasted as a legal institution until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. But increasingly during the contested politics of the early republic, abolitionists cried out that the Constitution itself was a slaveowners' document, produced to protect and further their rights. A Slaveholders' Union furthers this unsettling claim by demonstrating once and for all that slavery was indeed an essential part of the foundation of the nascent republic. In this powerful book, George William Van Cleve demonstrates that the Constitution was pro-slavery in its politics, its economics, and its law. He convincingly shows that the Constitutional provisions protecting slavery were much more than mere "political" compromises-they were integral to the principles of the new nation. By the late 1780's, a majority of Americans wanted to create a strong federal republic that would be capable of expanding into a continental empire. In order for America to become an empire on such a scale, Van Cleve argues, the Southern states had to be willing partners in the endeavor, and the cost of their allegiance was the deliberate long-term protection of slavery by America's leaders through the nation's early expansion. Reconsidering the role played by the gradual abolition of slavery in the North, Van Cleve also shows that abolition there was much less progressive in its origins-and had much less influence on slavery's expansion-than previously thought. Deftly interweaving historical and political analyses, A Slaveholders' Union will likely become the definitive explanation of slavery's persistence and growth-and of its influence on American constitutional development-from the Revolutionary War through the Missouri Compromise of 1821.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Introduction

Part One. Slavery in the American Revolution

Part Two. The Making of the Slaveholders' Constitution

Part Three. Slavery in the New Nation

Conclusion. Slavery and the Dismal Fate of Madisonian Politics

Acknowledgments

Appendix A. Notes on the Law of Slavery and Bound Labor

Appendix B. Calculating Non-slaveholder Voting Strength

Appendix C. Calculations in Support of Table 4.1

Appendix D. House of Representatives Action on the Quaker Memorials

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612894848

9781282894846

1282894846

9780226846699

0226846695

OCLC:

676698542