Question

Some historians call slavery the "unfinished business" of the 1787 Convention. Write a paragraph explaining why.

Answer 1

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 enacted compromises to placate the Southern states on the slavery question. The two most important issues related to slavery were the Slave Trade and the 3/5's Compromise. Rather than restricting the slave trade, the convention agreed to make no law suppressing or regulating the Atlantic Slave Trade, which allowed it to continue for twenty additional year until 1807. The second compromise pertained to representation in the House of Representatives. The 3/5's Compromise allowed the enslaved to be counted as 3/5's to balance representation in the House of Representatives between slaveholding and non-slaveholding states.