Slaves
Clause 1. Importation of Slaves
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
Importation of Slaves in General
This sanction for the importation of slaves by the states for twenty years after the adoption of the Constitution, when considered with the section requiring escaped slaves to be returned to their masters, Art. IV, § 1, cl. 3, was held by Chief Justice Taney in Scott v. Sandford,1 to show conclusively that such persons and their descendants were not embraced within the term “citizen” as used in the Constitution. Today this ruling is interesting only as an historical curiosity.
Resources
References
This text about Slaves is based on “The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation”, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.
[Footnote 1] 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393, 411 (1857).
Tables of Contents
- Slaves and other Topics in the Contents – Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution
- U.S. Constitutional Law Category
- List of amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Slaves and other Topics in the Constitution Contents
- Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution (Table of Contents)
- Clauses of the Constitution (Table of Contents)
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