[272] Madison nevertheless thought that peaceful co-existence between the two racial groups could eventually be achieved in the long run.[273]
Madison initially opposed the Constitution's 20-year protection of the foreign slave trade, but he eventually accepted it as a necessary compromise to get the South to ratify the document.[274] He also proposed that apportionment in the House of Representatives be according to each state's free and enslaved population, eventually leading to the adoption of the Three-fifths Compromise.[275] Madison supported the extension of slavery into the West during the Missouri crisis of 1819–1821,[276] asserting that the spread of slavery would not lead to more slaves, but rather diminish their generative increase through dispersing them,[h] thus substantially improving their condition, accelerating emancipation, easing racial tensions and increasing "partial manumissions".[278]
Madison was referred to as a "garden-variety slaveholder" by historian Elizabeth Dowling Taylor as based on comments left by Madison's manservant after Madison's death.[279][280][281] Madison thought of slaves as "wayward (but still educable) students in need of regular guidance", and encouraged his plantation overseers to treat them with "all the humanity & kindness consistent with their necessary subordination and work".