Malcolm Rivera
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the inclusion of slaves in a state's total population. This would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would be allocated, and how much money the states would pay in taxes. The Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population, which would increase their number of members of Congress. However, the Northern states did not want slaves to be counted at all. The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population, effectively giving the Southern states more power in the House relative to the Northern states. This compromise was later superseded and repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could send to Congress. Free states, on the other hand, wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since those slaves had no voting rights.
The Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 superseded this clause and explicitly repealed the compromise.
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The Electoral College
The United States Electoral College is a system that allows for the indirect election of the president and vice president. The number of electoral votes each state receives is roughly proportionate to its population. The candidate who wins the majority of votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an attempt to resolve the impasse between slaveholding and free states. Slaveholding states wanted slaves to be considered persons when determining representation, but property when it came to levying taxes. Free states, on the other hand, wanted to exclude slaves from the counting of populations used to determine representation, as slaves had no voting rights. The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population, effectively giving Southern states more power in the House of Representatives.
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The 14th Amendment
The Three-Fifths Clause in Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution stated that slaves were considered three-fifths of a person. This clause was a compromise when creating Congress and determining how slaves were counted for representation and taxation. It gave the Southern states extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
Despite the intentions of the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled that it did not extend the Bill of Rights to the states. As a result, it failed to adequately protect the rights of Black citizens. Citizens, lawmakers, and the executive branch all made efforts to empower the 14th Amendment, but it was not until the 20th century that progress was made towards making its promise a reality.
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Taxation
The question of whether slaves were to be considered persons or property was a contentious issue during the drafting of the US Constitution, with significant implications for both representation and taxation.
The Southern states, where slavery was a major component of the economy, wanted slaves to be considered persons when it came to determining representation, as this would increase their number of representatives in the House of Representatives. However, they wanted slaves to be considered property when it came to taxation, as this would reduce their tax burden. On the other hand, the Northern states, where slavery was less prevalent, argued for the opposite approach. They wanted slaves to be excluded from considerations of representation but included in taxation.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was adopted to resolve this impasse. It stated that "three-fifths of all other Persons" would be counted for determining both representation and direct taxation. This compromise reduced the representation of the slave states relative to the original proposals from the South, but improved it over the Northern position. It also increased the direct federal tax burden on the slaveholding states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was not based on a belief that enslaved people were partially human, but rather on an approximation of the economic value that an enslaved person contributed to a state's economy. This compromise was part of a larger pattern of compromises made by the Founding Fathers, who, despite acknowledging that slavery violated the ideal of liberty, were unwilling to take bold action against it due to their commitment to private property rights, limited government, and the pursuit of sectional harmony.
The issue of taxation related to slavery continued to be a complex and morally fraught aspect of the US political landscape, with early federal tax policies reflecting debates about the sectional geopolitics of slavery. The ultimate resolution of this issue came with the Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise and mandated that "representatives shall be apportioned ... counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
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Voting rights
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached to resolve the dispute between slave-holding states and free states over the inclusion of slaves in a state's total population count. The Southern states argued that slaves should be considered persons when determining representation in Congress, while also wanting them to be treated as property for taxation purposes. On the other hand, Northern states, where slavery was less prevalent, objected to counting slaves at all in determining representation.
The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward its total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives. This gave Southern states with large slave populations an advantage in terms of representation and electoral votes. The Three-Fifths Compromise was later superseded by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which explicitly repealed the compromise and provided for representatives to be apportioned by counting all persons in each state, excluding untaxed Indigenous people.
Despite the abolition of slavery and the gains made during the Civil War, which led to citizenship and voting rights for Black people, the Electoral College remained intact. The ability of states to enact voting laws has been criticised as a legacy of slavery, making it more difficult for people of colour to vote. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact has gained support, with proponents arguing for a system where the person who receives the most votes wins the election, ensuring equal voting power across the country.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the inclusion of slaves in a state's total population.
The Compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population. This was for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives and determining taxation.
The number was derived from an approximation of the wealth that an enslaved person contributed to that state's economy.
The Three-Fifths Compromise gave Southern states with large slave populations more representatives and more electoral votes, increasing their political power.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was superseded and repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which provided that "representatives shall be apportioned ... counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
