[Verginius Rufus]

At the Constitutional Convention they had to make compromises, some of them unpalatable. The 20-year delay before the importation of slaves was the worst, but it had to be done or South Carolina and Georgia would not have ratified the Constitution. The South wanted the slaves to be counted on the same basis as free people and the North did not want them to be counted at all when calculating representation. So they went with the formula already being used.

Homer said that slavery takes away half of a man's worth. So allowing 60% was slightly better than that.

There is an interesting passage in John Adams' writings where he observes a group of maybe 12 slaves doing a piece of work which 2 men could have easily done more quickly. Obviously the slaves were being clever--they had no incentive to finish the job quickly. This was probably in Washington, DC, towards the end of his term as President.

[Verginius Rufus]

I meant to say: the 20-year delay before the importation of slaves could be prohibited...

[crz]

The Confederate Constitution added a clause about the question of slavery in the territories, the key constitutional debate of the 1860 election, by explicitly stating slavery to be legally protected in the territories.