Listen closely, Libs!!

I was disappointed, but sadly not surprised, to see yet again, another person take something at face value instead of actually looking into the matter before posting it. I've been on CNN, MSNBC, radio-one (black entertainment radio), etc. and all of the stories on Cain/Bachmann are pretty much the same...something along the lines of:

"they say they support founding principles and the constitution...that must mean they support slavery....women not being able to vote..."

This game of equating the United States Constitution with pro-slavery, discrimination, and whatever evil crap those on the left can come up with, is getting really old. So, I thought I would take the time to explain the Constitution, specifically the 3/5 clause and other mechanisms put in place to slow, stop, and eliminate slavery from the United States of America.

No, I don't expect the majority of people to care, but for those of you out there who are SICK of the DNC pandering to you over "racism" and using slavery as the justification to ignore the Constitution, this I hope gives you some quick facts and some balls to stand-up to idiots, and the courage knowing others are just as smart as you!!

Here are the facts on the United States Constitution that Stephanoplus and Matthews always seem to forget when they attack Constitutional Conservatives, the relevance of our Constitution, and the truth about slavery under the 3/5 Clause:

Fact #1 The United States Constitution is an anti-slavery document

The founders, unlike our leaders today, actually had the balls to do stuff. Not little stuff either like living within your means, paying your bills, or passing budgets--big stuff like forming a more perfect union by promoting the blessings of liberty, securing property rights, and changing the course of history. They were smart guys--smart guys that got to the point. They created a governing document that specifically spelled out what the Feds couldn't do and made sure--just in case they missed something--that "anything we missed here is for the people and the states to decide." (for those of you who are lost, I am referring to the 9th and 10th Amendments, respectively). 

I promise you, one of the things they didn't "push to the side" or "kick down the road for later generations to deal with" was the issue of slavery. They knew they couldn't end it in September 1787, but they knew it could never survive alongside their vision of a Constitutional Republic based on rights bestowed upon us from God above. 

So, they set up a structure of government that would systematically eliminate slavery over time. I will put this in a modern-day example to help better illustrate this point: Today, Constitutional Conservatives like West, Ryan, Rubio, Paul, Bachmann, Cain--are creating plans that won't pay off our debt overnight, decrease unemployment numbers in a week, or kick our addiction to entitlements with a pill--they (for example, the Ryan Plan) have created a system that, once implemented over time, will get our spending under control and tame our need to be taken care of by Big Daddy Government.

 Jon Jay, writer for the Federalist Papers, said the following in 1786: 

"It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused."

The men that fought for the United States Constitution understood what the issue of slavery represented. They knew in their hearts it was wrong, but just because something is wrong doesn't mean it is easy to get rid of--just ask any of the smart Americans today how much work it is going to take to undo Obama policies--he's enslaved generations!

Fact #2: The 3/5 clause was created specifically to PUNISH southern states for owning slaves, the Constitution was the incentive to end it!

In order for the south to gain adequate representation in the House they would of had to free their slaves. See, for those of you that don't know, during this time, there were actually more slaves in some states than actually "free" people.

In South Carolina for example, 43 percent of the population was slave. In Maryland 32 percent, and Virginia, with the largest slave population, had 39 percent of its population made up of slaves.

The north, which did have slaves but not a significant amount for Representation matters, had two sects within their ranks: those that were opposed to slavery for purely economic reasons (hard to compete if you have to pay for labor but others' don't); and those that opposed slavery for moral reasons (there were also white southerners that opposed slavery for moral reasons, i know this goes against the trend, but it is true..not all white people in the south were racist slaveholders in 18th century America).

So, in order to compromise between zero representation for slaves (which is what the north wanted) and full representation for slaves (which is what the south wanted) they did compromise. But contrary to liberal belief and indoctrination, this "compromise" was to punish--not benefit the south, and also as an incentive to the south to end slavery in exchange for political power in the House of Representatives (for those of you confused again, "power" in this case means more seats--more seats you have, the more voice you have, the more power you have).

Oliver Ellsworth, one of the signers of the Constitution, a few months after the Convention adjourned, wrote the following:

"All good men wish the entire abolition of slavery, as soon as it can take place with safety to the public, and for the lasting good of the present wretched race of slaves.

See, the same way Ryan is trying to ween us off entitlements, the Founders were weeining the southern states off slavery.They couldn't do it all at once (the democrats/libs of their day would have called this "catastrophic" "radical" and probably "racist"

Fact #3: Article 1, Sec. 9 Effectively ends the Transatlantic Slave trade.

The 3/5 Compromise worked along side another creative tool the Founders used to make it more difficult to acquire slaves, earn representation in government, and continue the existence of the slave trade---they eliminated it! The Constitution called for the end of United States importation of slaves within 20 years--by 1808:

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.

                                                                         --Article 1, Sec. 9, U.S. Constitution

And I don't know if you caught it, but they prepared themselves for the definition of "property" problem by defining those that were being imported as "persons."

Fact #3: The Moral Authority of the People of the United States

Liberals like to paint the picture that every white person in the south was a racist slave owner, all white people in the north were passive racist, and only black people and women had any moral authority whatsoever. This just isn't the case. Remember, we are the ONLY nation in the world that fought a war--in part--over the elimination of slavery. We are the first nation to have a political party (the Republican party) created--in part--over outlawing slavery, and contrary to popular belief, the majority of Americans did not own slaves. The same way the Civil Rights Movement succeeded--because MLK took the issue of discrimination to the American people (white people specifically, especially in the north), slavery never stood a chance, and the Founders knew it!

The Constitution of the United States of America was founded under the idea that our Rights come form God--not from man and not from government. This simple idea alone made slavery impossible to continue. The mechanisms they put in place only sped up the inevitable. 

The Founders v. the Modern Political Establishment

Like many modern Americans, I would like to envision I am the product of a perfect human race of perfect human beings that smelled like cookies and everywhere they stepped rainbows shot out of the ground--but they weren't angels, and they weren't perfect--they were men. So, before you get all uppity about their "failure" to end slavery--take a look at the people you've sent to lead in our nation over your lifetime. One party hasn't created a budget in two years, spent more money than ever in human history with nothing but high unemployment to show for it;  and the other one hasn't had a backbone or a platform to stand on since Reagan--they may not have been perfect, but at least they setup a system that actually DID something...even if it didn't happen in 24 hours....as most liberals should know by now, "hope & change" ain't easy!

As I leave you with this quote, remember: there is a reason they want you to think the constitution is irrelevant.  

"If the Negroes were granted the opportunity to pursue the Constitution, they might learn to contend for their rights therin guaranteed...and no Negro who gives attention to such matters of the government is tolerated...the [learning] of government, or the lack of such instruction, then, must be made to conform to the policy of 'keeping the Negro forever in his place'.""

--Carter G. Woodson "The Mis-Education of the Negro.

Shelby Emmett received her BA in Political Theory, Constitutional Democracy and Social Relations at Michigan State University, and her JD from the University of the District of Columbia law school.  A native of Detroit, she considers herself, first and foremost a Constitutionalist, who learned at a very young age that the liberal point of view is designed to keep the citizenry dependent on Government and thus more willing to keep those in power who are willing to feed that dependency.  You can find some more of her thoughts on the Constitution at her new blog: The Relevance of the Constitution in 21st Century America.

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