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Richard · 02-27-2013, 10:20

An interesting debate amid the numerous other on-going Constitutional debates...and the beat goes on.

And so it goes...

Richard

The Constitution’s Immoral Compromise
NYT, 27 Feb 2013

Emory University students marched in anger last week over a decision that was reached more than 200 years ago. They were outraged, among other things, that the school’s president called the Constitution’s “three-fifths compromise” one of the “pragmatic half-victories” that assured the union.

Americans today are repulsed by the fact that the Constitution let each state’s House delegation be determined by adding all free citizens, except most Indians, and “three fifths of all other Persons.” Southerners wanted all slaves counted. Northerners thought none should be. The compromise let the South keep humans as property, increasing the region’s political power.

But did the framers have a choice? Could the compromise have been avoided? Would any other path have prevented a united United States or did the bargain only delay that division?

The Union Wasn’t Worth This Bargain

Paul Finkelman is the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School. He is the author of "Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson.''

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...ise-on-slavery

Morality Wasn’t the Issue in 1787

Henry L. Chambers Jr. is a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...-issue-in-1787

A Moral Stand Was Not Out of the Question

Leslie M. Harris is the Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities at Emory University. She is the author of "In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863."

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...f-the-question

An Understandable Deal; No Good Alternative

Sanford Levinson is a professor at the University of Texas Law School and the author, most recently, of "Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance."

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...eal-on-slavery

Founders’ Fear of Division Made the Deal Inevitable

Raymond T. Diamond is the Jules F. & Frances L. Landry Distinguished Professor of Law and a vice chancellor at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...ery-inevitable

02-27-2013, 10:20	#1
Richard Quiet Professional Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NorCal Posts: 15,370	The Constitution’s Immoral Compromise An interesting debate amid the numerous other on-going Constitutional debates...and the beat goes on. And so it goes... Richard The Constitution’s Immoral Compromise NYT, 27 Feb 2013 Emory University students marched in anger last week over a decision that was reached more than 200 years ago. They were outraged, among other things, that the school’s president called the Constitution’s “three-fifths compromise” one of the “pragmatic half-victories” that assured the union. Americans today are repulsed by the fact that the Constitution let each state’s House delegation be determined by adding all free citizens, except most Indians, and “three fifths of all other Persons.” Southerners wanted all slaves counted. Northerners thought none should be. The compromise let the South keep humans as property, increasing the region’s political power. But did the framers have a choice? Could the compromise have been avoided? Would any other path have prevented a united United States or did the bargain only delay that division? The Union Wasn’t Worth This Bargain Paul Finkelman is the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School. He is the author of "Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson.'' http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...ise-on-slavery Morality Wasn’t the Issue in 1787 Henry L. Chambers Jr. is a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...-issue-in-1787 A Moral Stand Was Not Out of the Question Leslie M. Harris is the Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities at Emory University. She is the author of "In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863." http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...f-the-question An Understandable Deal; No Good Alternative Sanford Levinson is a professor at the University of Texas Law School and the author, most recently, of "Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance." http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...eal-on-slavery Founders’ Fear of Division Made the Deal Inevitable Raymond T. Diamond is the Jules F. & Frances L. Landry Distinguished Professor of Law and a vice chancellor at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate...ery-inevitable __________________ “Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch) “Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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