Final answer:
The Connecticut delegates favored the continuation of the slave trade at the Constitutional Convention as part of a 'dirty compromise' that increased the South's political power through the Three-Fifths Compromise and preserved the Union by balancing Northern commercial interests with Southern slaveholding demands.
Step-by-step explanation:
Arguments by Connecticut Delegates in Favor of Slave Importation
During the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the question of slavery and slave importation was a contentious issue among the delegates. While some Northern representatives, such as Gouverneur Morris of New York, opposed the inclusion of slavery in the new Constitution on moral grounds, the need to compromise was pressing, especially with Southern delegates who argued that slavery was a financial burden and deserved special consideration.
The Connecticut delegates sided with a form of compromise that benefited both northern commercial interests and southern slaveholding interests. This took form in the 'dirty compromise,' which allowed the continuation of the Atlantic slave trade for twenty years in return for Southern support on commercial legislation. The delegates from Connecticut and other states were aware that the importation of more slaves would increase the political power of the South due to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted each enslaved individual as three-fifths of a person for representative purposes in Congress, thereby boosting Southern representation.
Ultimately, the economic and political dimensions were pivotal in the arguments of Connecticut delegates. They, among others, feared the potential dissolution of the Union if the Southern states' demands were unmet. Therefore, in the interest of establishing 'a more perfect union,' a compromise was made that would perpetuate the slave trade and, by extension, slavery, in the United States for at least two more decades.