Malcolm Rivera
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a highly contentious issue at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where the Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population to increase their number of members of Congress, while the Northern states wanted to count only free persons, including free blacks. The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, effectively giving the Southern states more power in the House. This compromise has often been misinterpreted to mean that African Americans were considered three-fifths of a person or citizen, but it was about representation in Congress, with enslaved blacks in a state being counted as three-fifths of the number of white inhabitants.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Were black people considered equal to whites in the Constitution? | No. |
| Were black people considered property in the Constitution? | No, but they were considered property in some states. |
| Were black people allowed to vote? | Yes, in some states. |
| Were black people allowed to hold office? | Yes, in some states. |
| Were slaves considered part of the population? | Southern states wanted slaves to be counted as a full person, whereas Northern states did not want them to be counted at all. A compromise was struck, and slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person. |
| Were slaves considered property for taxation purposes? | Slave states wanted slaves to be considered property for taxation purposes. |
| Were slaves mentioned in the Constitution? | No, but the Constitution mentions "person [s] held to service or labor" and "such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit." |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The impasse was resolved with the Three-Fifths Compromise, proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney. The compromise stated that three-fifths of each state's slave population would be counted towards the total population, effectively increasing the power of the Southern states in the House of Representatives relative to the Northern states. This compromise also gave slaveholders enlarged powers in Southern legislatures. It is important to note that free black people and indentured servants were not subject to this compromise and were counted as full persons for representation.
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The Fourteenth Amendment
Prior to the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) had a profound impact on the status of African Americans. The Court ruled that Black people, whether free or enslaved, were not citizens but "a separate class of persons." This decision protected slavery and allowed for discriminatory laws that denied equal citizenship status to free Black people. The Fourteenth Amendment directly challenged this ruling by establishing birthright citizenship and granting citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people.
A key provision of the Fourteenth Amendment was its denial of power to the states to withhold equal protection of the laws from African Americans. It stated that "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This prevented states from passing laws that discriminated against citizens based on race and protected the rights of African Americans.
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The right to vote
The original U.S. Constitution did not define voting rights for citizens, and until 1870, only white men were allowed to vote. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1868, granted African Americans citizenship, but this did not translate to the right to vote. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution extended voting rights to men of all races. However, this amendment did not guarantee the right to vote for African Americans, as they continued to face barriers to voting due to discriminatory state constitutions and laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, "grandfather clauses", intimidation, and violence.
The "grandfather clauses" were a popular method of disenfranchising African Americans. These clauses restricted voting rights to men who were allowed to vote or whose male ancestors were allowed to vote before the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. For example, Oklahoma passed a constitutional amendment in 1910 that stated only citizens whose grandfathers had voted in 1865 could vote, effectively disqualifying the descendants of formerly enslaved people.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) played a crucial role in challenging these discriminatory practices. They persuaded the United States attorney general to challenge the "grandfather clause" in the Oklahoma constitution as a violation of the Fifteenth Amendment. Despite these efforts, African Americans continued to face obstacles to voting well into the 20th century. In response to the campaign in Selma, Alabama, led by civil rights activists such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed Congress and urged the passage of a voting rights bill.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a significant milestone in securing the right to vote for African Americans. The act provided federal enforcement to remove literacy tests, poll taxes, and other tools used to prevent African Americans from voting. It also authorized federal supervision of voter registration and prevented states from changing voting requirements or district boundaries without federal review. The act, which was extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote.
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Free black persons before the Constitution
The original, unamended US Constitution, written in 1787, did not mention the words "race", "colour", "slavery", "slave", or "black". However, the omission of these words does not mean that the Founding Fathers did not discuss black slavery at length during the Constitutional Convention. In fact, the topic was a major concern, with frequent direct references to both slavery and race.
The Constitution's silence on race and slavery was intentional. The authors of the Constitution used circumlocutions to avoid using any form of the word "slave". For example, they used phrases such as "person held to service or labour" and "such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit".
The only mentions of Black Americans in the Constitution were in reference to them as property. The Three-Fifths Clause, for instance, stated that "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States... according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons... three-fifths of all other persons". This clause has been interpreted as evidence that the Founding Fathers considered Black people to be less than human. However, others argue that the humanity of Black people was not the subject of the Three-Fifths Clause, but rather, it was a matter of voting power in Congress.
Despite the lack of explicit protection for free Black Americans in the Constitution, there were free Black people in many states at the time of its writing. The Naturalization Act of 1790, which limited naturalization to "free white person(s)... of good character", eliminated the ambiguity regarding the treatment of newcomers. Before this Act, free Black people had been allowed citizenship at the state level in many states.
It wasn't until the 14th Amendment in 1868 that all people born in the US were granted citizenship, regardless of race. This Amendment revoked the Black Codes and declared that states could not pass laws that denied citizens their constitutional rights and freedoms. It also amended the Three-Fifths Clause, stating that population counts would be based on the "whole number of persons" in a state. The 15th Amendment, enacted in 1870, furthered the struggle for equality by granting African American men the right to vote.
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Black slaves as property
The issue of black slaves as property was a highly contentious topic during the drafting of the US Constitution in 1787. The Southern states, where slaves comprised half of the population, wanted slaves to be considered both property and persons. They wanted slaves to be counted as "whole persons" to increase their representation in Congress, while also wanting them to be considered property for taxation purposes. On the other hand, the Northern states, where slavery was less prevalent, did not want slaves to be counted at all. This disagreement led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina.
The Three-Fifths Compromise stated that for the purpose of representation in Congress, enslaved black people would be counted as three-fifths of the number of white inhabitants in a state. This compromise was not about the relative worth or humanity of black people, but rather a political strategy to balance the power between the slaveholding and free states. It gave the Southern states more power in the House of Representatives relative to the Northern states. Additionally, it incentivized freedom, as a free black man in a state was worth two-fifths more than a slave.
Despite this compromise, the Constitution still perpetuated the dehumanization and constitutional disregard of Black Americans. The original Constitution, written in 1787, permitted slavery and did not include the words "slave" or "slavery." Instead, circumlocutions such as "person held to service or labor" were used to avoid direct references to slavery. The struggle for racial justice and equality continued for over a century after the Constitution was written, with amendments being made to grant African Americans citizenship, voting rights, and equal protection under the law.
It is important to note that black slaves were not universally considered property, and free black people existed long before the Constitution was written. Additionally, black people also owned slaves, and black votes helped to ratify the Constitution. The complex history of slavery and its legacy of racial inequality in the United States underscores the ongoing need for social justice and equity.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise made during the 1787 Constitutional Convention regarding the counting of slaves as part of the population. The Southern states wanted each slave to count as a full person, whereas the Northern states did not want them to be counted at all. The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was made to resolve the issue of representation in Congress. The Southern states wanted to increase their representation in Congress by counting slaves as full persons, while the Northern states did not want slaves to be counted at all. The compromise gave the Southern states more power in the House of Representatives relative to the Northern states.
No, the Three-Fifths Compromise was not about the relative worth of Black people. It was about voting power in Congress and the representation of states with a large slave population. The humanity of Black people was not the subject of the compromise.
While the word "slave" or "slavery" is not mentioned in the Constitution, slaves were considered property by the slave states. The Three-Fifths Compromise counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of representation in Congress, which has been interpreted as devaluing the worth of Black people.
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