The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Federalism

Abstract

This article serves as a critique of Elkins and McKitrick’s The Age of Federalism. Professor Finkelman points out that in their 900 page book, Elkins and McKitrick barely acknowledge the existence of slavery in the United States and when it is mentioned it is only as a passing mention as a pat of some larger discussion. Further, Finkelman notes that it is strange that the authors would call the time period an “age of passion” without a greater discussion of slavery, a topic that people of the day felt very passionately about as it was one of the key issues debated during the Constitutional Convention. Professor Finkelman goes on to discuss the important role that slavery played in the Federalist era.