The Power of the State to Preserve Slavery

The structure of the constitution itself not only preserves slavery but gives rise to the system of localized apartheid that you've identified. When free blacks took steps to secure their civil rights in free states they sometimes did so under the mantle of states rights which is perhaps striking given the way that that term would be used later to oppose efforts to address racial discrimination. I think students are always surprised when we read the constitution and Conla defined all of these little snippets promoting or bolstering or preserving slavery in the actual text of the original constitution.