Introduction to American Law

Introduction to American Law (Word Count 7154

Q1

It was around the year 1600 several Africans were shipped to North America as slaves . The slaves were made to do most of the works at places where they lived . Most of the slaves had ti work in mines and plantations while some of the slaves were made servants at the homes of the rich people . A majority of the people at that time thought that slavery was acceptable . Only few slaves had the right to marry , run a family , testify in a court

of law and own property legally . It was the endeavor of some of the slaves to make money to free them from slavery

The Great Compromise

The bifurcation of the Congress into House of Representatives and the Senate was opposed by the colonies with smaller populations because they feared their representation would be weak , as the representation would be determined by the population . The smaller States accepted the New Jersey plan and the States with larger population rejected and what resulted was the `Great Compromise

The movement for the eradication of slavery in the United States started with the `The Great Compromise . The compromise ensured that the congressional power could not be exercised before 1808 . One another provision agreed to in the compromise was that the slaves are to be counted as three fifths of a person toward representation in the House At that point of time almost 20 percent of the 2 million people in the colonies were slaves

The issue of abolition of slavery was discussed at the Constitutional Convention where the delegates from the Northern States insisted that the Congress should have the power to forbid the trade in slaves . This move was opposed by most of the southern states . However for the purposes of representation the southern states wanted to include slaves despite the fact that the slaves were not considered , as citizens nor had the right to vote . According to the compromise reached Congress was made to hold on to the power to forbid the slave trade being exercised till the year 1808 . In return the southern states accepted the proportional representation of the slaves at the agreed proportions

Other Measures to End Slavery

The following are the other measures taken for ending the slavery

In the year 1780 , the children born to slaves in Pennsylvania after the date on which this measure was ensured , were granted freedom at the time they reach the age of 28

The Superior Court Massachusetts in the year 1783 held that slavery was considered to have violated the state Constitution

The New Hampshire also passed a court ruling to end the slavery

Vermont also passed legislation to make slavery outlawed

Connecticut and Rhode Island passed laws to ensure a gradual emancipation

In the year 1799 New York made legislation for making slavery an outlawed proposition

In the year 1804 New Jersey also passed legislation against slavery

The international slave trade was outlawed in the year 1808 by...