The asymmetry in aims allowed the dream of the United States of America to be held hostage to the tyranny of slave owners. If South Carolina and Georgia, in particular, did not get nationwide protection for slavery, did not get to have inordinate power in the halls of government, and did not get to enrich their wealth on the backs of the Atlantic slave trade, they “threatened to bolt.”97 Repeatedly, during the deliberations they made clear that human bondage was their price for signing onto the Constitution.98 If Americans wanted a United States, it was going to cost Black people dearly.
