Conclusion

After completing this WebQuest, you should have a better understanding of the issues discussed at the Constitutional Convention, and the difficulty of getting people with diverse backgrounds to compromise. Because of the vast number of compromises that had to be made, one of the Constitution's nicknames is "The Bundle of Compromise." Some other thoughts to consider...

When the Constitution was ratified, there was no mention of the legality of slavery. Article 1 outlined the ending of the Constitution, however, historical documents reveal that the delegates at the Constitutional Convention did indeed discuss the topic.

• Why do you think the founding fathers omitted slavery from the final draft?
• How do you think United States history would differ had the founders mentioned the legality of slavery?
• Which delegates at the Constitutional Convention do you think would have supported legal slavery in the Constitution, and why?
• Which delegates at the Constitutional Convention do you think would have been against legal slavery in the Constitution, and why?

The question of slavery would reappear numerous times through the earlier years of the United States, however, the issue was not finally settled until the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.