In spite of this discussion in the different States, only one State, Rhode Island, went so far as to propose an amendment directing Congress to "promote and establish such laws and regulations as may effectually prevent the importation of slaves of every description, into the United States."[40] 39. ~Acceptance of the Policy.~ As in the Federal Convention, so in the State conventions, it is noticeable that the compromise was accepted by the various States from widely different motives.[41] Nevertheless, these motives were not fixed and unchangeable, and there was still discernible a certain underlying agreement in the dislike of slavery. One cannot help thinking that if the devastation of the late war had not left an extraordinary demand for slaves in the South,--if, for instance, there had been in 1787 the same plethora in the slave-market as in 1774,--the future history of the country would have been far different. As it was, the twenty-one years of _laissez-faire_ were confirmed by the States, and the nation entered upon the constitutional period with the slave-trade legal in three States,[42] and with a feeling of quiescence toward it in the rest of the Union. FOOTNOTES: [1] Conway, _Life and Papers of Edmund Randolph_, ch. ix. [2] Conway, _Life and Papers of Edmund Randolph_, p. 78. [3] Elliot, _Debates_, I. 227. [4] Cf. Conway, _Life and Papers of Edmund Randolph_, pp. 78-9. [5] For the following debate, Madison's notes (Elliot, _Debates_, V. 457 ff.) are mainly followed. [6] Cf. Elliot, _Debates_, V, _passim_. [7] By Charles Pinckney. [8] By John Dickinson. [9] Mentioned in the speech of George Mason. [10] Charles Pinckney. Baldwin of Georgia said that if the State were left to herself, "she may probably put a stop to the evil": Elliot, _Debates_, V. 459. [11] _Affirmative:_ Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,--7. _Negative:_ New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware,--3. _Absent:_ Massachusetts,--1. [12] _Negative:_ Connecticut and New Jersey. [13] Luther Martin's letter, in Elliot, _Debates_, I. 373. Cf. explanations of delegates in the South Carolina, North Carolina, and other conventions. [14] Elliot, _Debates_, V. 471. [15] Saturday, Aug. 25, 1787. [16] Elliot, _Debates_, V. 477. [17] Elliot, _Debates_, V. 477. Dickinson made a similar motion, which was disagreed to: _Ibid._ [18] _Ibid._, V. 478. [19] _Ibid._ [20] Aug. 29: _Ibid._, V. 489. [21] _Ibid._, V. 492. [22] Elliot, _Debates_, V. 532. [23] _Ibid._, I. 317. [24] P.L. Ford, _Pamphlets on the Constitution_, p. 331. [25] _Ibid._, p. 367. [26] McMaster and Stone, _Pennsylvania and the Federal Convention_, pp. 599-600. Cf. also p. 773. [27] See Ford, _Pamphlets_, etc., p. 54. [28] Ford, _Pamphlets_, etc., p. 146.