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在其他问题上，相聚于费城的参会代表们表现得异常腼腆，尤其是涉及另一种不同类型的权力问题——奴隶主对于奴隶的奴役问题——的时候。造成这种困难的一个原因就是，他们对于财产的信念十分坚定。在他们的世界观中，自由和财产不可避免地紧密相连。既然奴隶是一种财产，立刻废除奴隶制看起来并不是一个可行的解决办法。代表们通过妥协有效地回避了这个问题。宪法在奴隶制的支持者和反对者之间找到了一条中间道路，让这个新国家在奴隶问题上保持中立，交由他们的后代决定究竟应该如何废除这项制度。
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照顾到奴隶制的批评者，宪法规定“对于现有任何一州所认为的应准其移民或入境的人，在1808年之前，国会不得加以禁止”。简言之，到了1808年，从海外进口奴隶的贸易就将被废止。同时，奴隶也不会因为逃往一个不那么接受奴隶制的州而重获自由，因为宪法为了保障奴隶制的拥护者，规定“凡根据一州之法律应在该州服役或服劳役者，逃往另一州时，将不会……解除其服役或劳役，而应依照有权得到劳役或劳动的当事人的要求，将其交出”。宪法中的这一条款明确支持奴隶主追回任何逃跑的奴隶。不过即使这样，一些南方代表仍旧心怀不满。他们希望鱼和熊掌可以兼得。虽然他们将奴隶视为财产，但在涉及代表权问题时，又发现主张奴隶具有人性才有利于自己。土著人因为不用缴税，也就没有选举投票的权利，但是奴隶被计算为3/5个自由人。简言之，南方可以在把奴隶视为财产的同时，还将他们算作人。
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如果说在这些条款中使用的法律语言看起来甚至比平时还刻板，也的确是因为友谊如此。本杰明·拉什在向一位伦敦记者讲述辩论细节时，略带讽刺地指出“宪法中没有提到黑鬼或奴隶这样的词汇，仅仅是因为他们认为这样做会给美国自由和政府的华美云锦带来污点”。“因此，”他评论道，“正如你所见，几年前那片不到一人手掌大小的乌云，如今已经凝结成千万颗雨滴，最终落在了这片土地的每一个角落。”[23]
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拉什一直以来都是一位颇具先见之明的评论家。制宪会议设计的政府框架在后来证明——如今也仍在证明——美国建国者是多么的敏锐、思考是多么的机敏、对于这个新共和国的构想是多么的灵活。宪法本身成为美国国家身份和美国民族主义的决定性文件之一。在1787年以来的美国政治和社会生活中，面对变幻莫测的历史环境，它一直都展现出非同寻常的调节适应能力。不过，对于在奴隶制方面所做出的妥协，美国的建国者们也许有一点太过自信。美国宪法并不是唯一一份定义这个新生国家的文件，在它之前还有《独立宣言》，并且，《独立宣言》对自由的设想更加开放。1787年9月中旬，当代表们准备离开费城之时，有关这份美国宪法的辩论尚未平息，有关《独立宣言》的争论才刚刚开始。
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[1]Abraham Lincoln, Address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore, Maryland, April 18, 1864, in Roy Basler (ed), The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 11 Vols. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953) VII, 301-302.
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[2]Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774), available at, among others: http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/ Jefferson/Summaryview.html (December 2, 2009).
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[3]Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (London: John Stockdale, 1787) 270, 271-272.
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[4]Declaration of Independence (draft), in Julian P. Boyd (ed), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 1, 1760-1776 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950) 246-247.
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[5]Samuel Johnson, “Taxation No Tyranny: An Answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress, ”in The Works of Samuel Johnson (New York
:Pafraets ＆ Company, 1913) Vol. 14, 93-144.
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[6]Phillis Wheatley, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (London, 1773) 7.
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[7]John Woolman, Journal of John Woolman, available at: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WooJour.html (November 29, 2009) chapter VII, 251;Woolman, “Considerations on Keeping Negroes, ”Part II (1762) quoted in David G. Houston, “John Woolman’s Efforts in Behalf of Freedom, ”Journal of Negro History, 2 (April 1917): 126-138, 135, n. 24.
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[8]Eliza Lucas Pinckney to Mr. Morley, March 14, 1760; to Mrs. Evance, March 15, 1760, in William A. Link and Marjorie Spruill Wheeler, The South in the History of the Nation, Vol. I (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999) 72, 74-75.
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[9]Daniel Boorstin, The Americans: The Colonial Experience (New York: Random House, 1958) 351.
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[10]Ebenezer Baldwin, The Duty of Rejoicing Under Calamities and Afflictions(New York: Hugh Gaine, 1776) 21-22.
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[11]Samuel Ward to Henry Ward, November 11, 1775, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, available at: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw: @field(DOCID±@lit(dg002322)) (December 20, 2009)
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[12]Joseph Doddridge, Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1783 (Pittsburgh, PA: Ritenour and Lindsey, 1912) 142.
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[13]George Washington to Meshech Weare et al., “Circular Letter on Continental Army, ”October 18, 1780, in The George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, available at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html(December 27, 2009).
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[14]George Washington to Continental Congress, December 16, 1776; to Meshech Weare et al., October 18, 1780, in Washington Papers.
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[15]George Washington to Continental Congress, December 23, 1777, in Washington Papers.
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[16]George Washington to Henry Laurens, November 14, 1778, in Washington Papers.
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[17]George Washington to Continental Congress, December 20, 1776; to John Sullivan, December 17, 1780, in Washington Papers.
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[18]Clinton, memo of conversation on February 7, 1776, quoted in Stephen Conway, “To Subdue America: British Army Officers and the Conduct of the Revolutionary War, ”William and Mary Quarterly, 43:3 (July 1986): 381-407, quote 381.
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[19]George Washington to John Banister, April 21, 1778, in Washington Papers.
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[20]Benjamin Rush, “Address to the People of the United States, ”American Museum, Philadelphia, January 1787.
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[21]21 Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States, before the Adoption of the Constitution (Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company;Cambridge: Brown, Shattuck, and Co., 1833) 3: 1120.
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