African-Americans' legal status under the Constitution was evolutionary in nature over time.

An Evolutionary Journey: African-Americans’ Legal Status Under the U.S. Constitution Student Name University Course Professor Name Date An Evolutionary Journey: African-Americans’ Legal Status Under the U.S. Constitution The rights of African Americans in the United States have undergone dynamic change throughout American social, political, and economic development. The evolution of rights from the compromises of the Eighteenth Century to the Civil War amendments and the Supreme Court decisions of the twentieth Century shows a long journey toward equality and Justice (Class Readings, 2024). This essay explains the emergence of African Americans’ constitutional rights throughout the historical and legal status of the United States. The Constitution, to some extent, adopted the slavery laws without using the word ‘slavery’ but protected it through other constitutional provisions. The Three-Fifths Compromise, embedded in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, quantified enslaved people as three-fifths a person for determining representation and taxation, which considered them property and not citizens (Class Readings, 2024). In addition, Constitution amendments prohibited the importation of enslaved persons after 1808 through Amendment I, Section 9, Clause 1, but at the same time, required the return of the fugitive enslaved persons to their masters according to Amendment IV, Section 2, Clause 3 (Class Readings, 2024). These provisions served as the Constitution’s compromise, which, economically and politically, was simply necessary for creating the union with the Southern and Northern states. The legalization of consumption and trade of enslaved people was deepened by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which enhanced enslavers' ownership rights over runaway bond...