Before the Revolutionary War, the American colonies had laws that made slavery legal. But after the war, most Northern states began to pass emancipation acts (laws) that abolished slavery. In Southern states, slavery remained a key part of the economy. These states continued to pass strict laws that denied rights to slaves and gave more power to slaveholders.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
Debating Slavery
As a result, when delegates met at the Constitutional Convention to create laws for the new nation, slavery was an important issue. Watch this video to learn about some of the different opinions the delegates had about how the ideas of liberty and freedom applied to slavery.
Click on the left to watch the video.
What was one reason that pro-slavery delegates felt they had a right to own slaves?