on the policy and
humanity of such a trade. The other was, that they might be taxed
in due proportion with other articles imported; for if the
possessor will consider them as property, of course they are of
value, and ought to be paid for.[572]

According to Elliot, Spaight said on July 26, 1787:

Mr. Spaight answered, that there was a contest between the
Northern and Southern States; that the Southern States, whose
principal support depended on the labor of slaves, would not
consent to the desire of the Northern States to exclude the
importation of slaves absolutely; that South Carolina and Georgia
insisted on this clause, as they were now in want of hands to
cultivate their lands; that in the course of twenty years they
would be fully supplied; that the trade would be abolished then,
and that, in the mean time, some tax or duty might be laid on....

Mr. Spaight further explained the clause. That the limitation of
this trade to the term of twenty years was a compromise between
the Eastern States and the Southern States. South Carolina and
Georgia wished to extend the term. The Eastern States insisted on
the entire abolition of the trade. That the state of North
Carolina had not thought proper to pass any law prohibiting the
importation of slaves, and therefore its delegation in the
Convention did not think themselves authorized to contend for an
immediate prohibition of it....[573]

In the House of Representatives on February 12, 1790:

Mr. Baldwin was sorry the subject had ever been brought before
Congress, because it was of a delicate nature as it respected
some of the States. Gentlemen who had been present at the
formation of the Constitution could not avoid the recollection of
the pain and difficulty which the subject caused in that body.
The members from the Southern States were so tender upon this
point, that they had well nigh broken up without coming to any
determination; however, from the extreme desire of preserving the
Union, and obtaining an efficient Government, they were induced
mutually to concede, and the Constitution jealously guarded what
they agreed to. If gentlemen look over the footsteps of that
body, they will find the greatest degree of caution used to
imprint them, so as not to be easily eradicated; but the moment