There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state otherwise than as punishment for a crime of which the party has been convicted. Sec. 3. Suspect Classifications. Amdt14.S1.8."Minnesota did not need slaves physically within its borders in order to financially benefit from slavery," he said. The Due Process Clause provides that no states shall deprive any "person" of "life, liberty or property" without due process of law. Scott, a slave, argued that he was free because his owner had taken him to territory where slavery was banned. The Joint Committee's logic for what became Section Three evoked an abolitionist mantra that a "Slave Power" of Southern elites was to blame for the Civil War. The slaves were more or less numerous in the different colonies, as slave labor was found more or less profitable. When it was enacted, slaves were immediately entitled to their freedom.