Constitution and Slavery

In your essay, you’ll read both the text of the Constitution (recall that only the 4 Articles and first 10 Amendments were part of the initial document) and historians’ arguments about slavery and the Constitution, and make an argument of your own.

A successful essay will:

Be 3-4 double spaced pages (12pt font, 1 inch margins)

Advance an original argument, made clearly in 1-2 sentences at the end of your introduction paragraph

Draw evidence from the Constitution, reciting quotes and analyzing their meaning

Summarize and use arguments from at least 4 secondary sources (options available in Blackboard folder, but feel free to choose your own)

Spend at least one paragraph summarizing and respondichong to the opposite opinion