all it did was enshrine slavery into the constitution
Meh. Absent the 3/5th Compromise, you'd still have had de facto slavery. All this accomplished was reconcile a political tug-of-war between the industrial north and agricultural south by splitting the difference.
the Fugitive Slave Clause and the law allowing the international slave trade for 20(?) years
The Fugitive Slave Act was hands-down the worst piece of legislation (re: slavery) passed in the nation's history, as it reversed out the status of "Free States". Consequently, the ostensibly free state of New York became a central hub of slave trafficking. No law prohibiting slavery had any teeth when the federal government could simply claim you a fugitive, seize you, and re-enslave you.
One of the stark consequences of this law - illustrated in "12 Years A Slave" - was that any freeman could be snatched off the streets and enslaved.
Meh. Absent the 3/5th Compromise, you'd still have had de facto slavery. All this accomplished was reconcile a political tug-of-war between the industrial north and agricultural south by splitting the difference.
The Fugitive Slave Act was hands-down the worst piece of legislation (re: slavery) passed in the nation's history, as it reversed out the status of "Free States". Consequently, the ostensibly free state of New York became a central hub of slave trafficking. No law prohibiting slavery had any teeth when the federal government could simply claim you a fugitive, seize you, and re-enslave you.
One of the stark consequences of this law - illustrated in "12 Years A Slave" - was that any freeman could be snatched off the streets and enslaved.