If opponents of slavery at the Constitutional Convention had insisted on the abolition of slavery, the convention likely would have faced severe political breakdown. Southern delegates, especially from states like South Carolina and Georgia, were adamant that slavery be protected. Abolition demands would have caused southern states to refuse to join the Union, undermining the formation of a new constitution. The framers viewed the convention as a political, not a moral, union, and believed that including an abolition clause would have destroyed the chances of unity. As a result, the slavery issue was compromised with protections like the three-fifths clause for representation, a delayed ban on the slave trade, and fugitive slave provisions. Insisting on abolition would likely have led to a failure of the convention or the immediate dissolution of efforts at union.