How and why does the Constitution protect slavery?

The U.S. Constitution originally protected slavery through several clauses, including the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation, and the Fugitive Slave Clause, which mandated the return of escaped enslaved people. These provisions reflected the political compromise between slaveholding and non-slaveholding states, aiming to maintain the Union. Additionally, the Constitution did not explicitly prohibit slavery, allowing it to persist and expand in the United States until the Civil War and the eventual adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment.