“Dishonorable to the American Character”: James Madison and the Impact of the Federal Convention’s Bargain on Slavery

Abstract

Slavery has long been seen as central to the debates in the Federal Convention of 1787. Yet scholarship on the ratification debates has generally concluded that slavery was an issue of secondary or localized importance. This article explores the role of slavery in the ratification debate from the vantage point of James Madison and finds that the Convention’s infamous bargain on slavery in late August played a larger role than has been recognized in influencing Madison’s ratification-era activities. Confusion, animosity, and sectional suspicions sparked by a proposal from the Committee of Detail were escaping from behind the curtains of the Philadelphia Convention. This prompted Madison, in his second phase of contributions to The Federalist beginning with no. 37, to begin a complex defense of the reputation of the Convention against rumors of a sectional bargain on slavery that he would later remember as “dishonorable to the American character.”