Final answer:
The Constitution recognized enslaved Africans as property through the Fugitive Slave Clause, and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 and 1850 reinforced slaveholders' rights to recapture escaped slaves. Supreme Court rulings, like the Dred Scott decision, backed the idea that slaves were property, and federal authorities enforced these provisions. The Fugitive Slave Clause was rendered obsolete with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Constitution and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 played significant roles in affirming slaveholders' rights over their 'property,' recognizing enslaved individuals as such. Article I delayed the end of the international slave trade until 1808, and Article IV's Fugitive Slave Clause required that escaped slaves, if found in other states, be returned to their owners. The Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott decision, upheld this view by stating that enslaved individuals were property and that the federal government was obligated to protect that property.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 further tightened the grip, enforcing harsh penalties on anyone aiding in the escape of slaves and offering financial incentives to commissioners who ruled in favor of slaveholders. This law was contested in the North and showed the powerful influence slaveholders had on federal policy, even amid claims of state rights.
However, the 13th Amendment eventually made the Fugitive Slave Clause null and void by outlawing slavery completely. Until then, the laws and the Constitution gave considerable legal support to slavery, influencing sectional conflicts that would lead to the Civil War.