Southern slaveholders’ aims hel0d the Constitutional Convention’s outcome hostage.

Evidence

This would not be easy. Madison recognized that though all the delegates were determined to create a viable nation, there were two divergent agendas under the surface. The Deep South was intent on strengthening the slaveholders’ power and protecting the institution of slavery. Meanwhile, the other delegates were motivated by a variety of moral, economic, and philosophical reasons. The asymmetry allowed the dream of the United States of America to be held hostage to the tyrannical aims of enslavers. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 784

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the origin-story-as-infrastructure reading: the asymmetry at the founding shaped what the nation’s design encoded.