MOUNT VERNON — “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union,” begins the preamble of the United States Constitution.
Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher explained during Part 3 of the Constitution Lecture Series at the Memorial Theater on Wednesday evening that the definition of “we the people” is not the same today as it was in 1787 when the three words were written.
Part Ten: Search,arrest warrants September 16, 2010
Part Nine: Right to bear arms September 16, 2010
Part Eight: Bill of Rights starts with expression September 9, 2010
Part Seven: Constitution ratified on promise of Bill of Rights September 9, 2010
Part Six: Guarding legal rights September 2, 2010
Part Five: Freedom of religion September 2, 2010
Part Four: Small parts have big meaning August 26, 2010
Part Three: Evolution of ‘We the people’ August 26, 2010
Part One: Creating a perfect union August 19, 2010
Part Two: Separation of powers August 19, 2010
Series to touch on Constitution August 13, 2010
U.S. Constitution National Archives
“A lot of the amendments [to the Constitution] were to change how inclusive that was and what that meant,” said Thatcher.
Thatcher explained Article I, Section 2; Article IV, Section 2; and Amendments 13, 15 and 24 of the Constitution.
“All of these provisions of the Constitution deal with slavery,” Thatcher said.
The “three-fifths clause” of Article I, Section 2, was actually a compromise to appease larger states like Virginia, which had a large slave population and wanted those slaves counted in the population numbers used to determine representation in Congress, and electoral votes.
The 700,000 slaves in this country in 1787 were not given any rights, but were each counted as 3/5 of a free person when determining representation as a result of this clause.
“The South wielded disproportionate power in Congress for years because of this,” Thatcher said.
Thatcher said Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution, known as “the fugitive clause,” is another part of the Constitution “we may not be so proud of now.”
The clause made it impossible for slaves to gain their freedom by escaping to a state where slavery was outlawed. It also made African-Americans in free states vulnerable to seizure and enslavement, Thatcher explained.
The Dred Scott Case of 1857, a lawsuit over this clause, affirmed its legality. Thatcher said the Supreme Court declared in its ruling that slaves were in fact property.
melissa.raines@mountvernonnews.com
