Omar Bennett
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention. The agreement stated that three-fifths of the enslaved population would be considered when determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. This compromise was reached after contentious debates between Northern and Southern delegates, with the former arguing that only voters should be accounted for, and the latter threatening to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted. While some have argued that the Three-Fifths Compromise was a step towards ending slavery, scholars maintain that there is no evidence to support this claim. Instead, the compromise was a concession to the Southern states, providing them with extra representation in the House of Representatives and extra votes in the Electoral College.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What | A compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention |
| Who | Proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney |
| Where | The Constitutional Convention in 1787 |
| When | 1787 |
| Why | To build support for the ratification of the Constitution |
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Who?
The 3/5ths Compromise was debated and agreed upon by delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787. The Southern delegates, representing slave states, wanted to count the entire slave population to increase their number of members of Congress. The Northern delegates, representing free states, opposed slavery and wanted to count only free persons, including free blacks in the North and South.
The Southern delegates threatened to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted. Eventually, the framers agreed on a compromise that called for representation in the House of Representatives to be apportioned based on a state's free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. This agreement came to be known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.
The Compromise was proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. Pinckney proposed that for the purposes of apportionment, a "House of Delegates" be determined through the apportionment of "one Member for every thousand Inhabitants 3/5 of Blacks included." The Convention unanimously accepted the principle that representation in the House of Representatives would be in proportion to the relative state populations.
The Three-Fifths Compromise provided additional representation in the House of Representatives for slave states compared to free states. It also gave the slaveholding states an artificial bump in representation in the Electoral College. Eight of the first nine presidential elections were won by slave-owning Virginians.
The Compromise was not a step towards ending slavery, as has been claimed by some Republican lawmakers. Instead, it was a concession to the Southern states and reinforced the institution of slavery.
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What?
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The compromise was that three-fifths of the enslaved population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.
The Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population, which would increase their number of members of Congress. The Northern delegates and others opposed to slavery wanted to count only free persons, including free blacks in the North and South. The compromise that was finally agreed upon—of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers—reduced the representation of the slave states relative to the original proposals, but improved it over the Northern position.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a contentious issue, with some arguing that it was a step towards ending slavery, and others arguing that it was a way to maintain the unity of the new United States while also confronting the moral and systemic evils of slavery. The compromise also had significant political implications, as it gave the slaveholding states an artificial bump in representation in the Electoral College and House, potentially influencing the outcomes of several presidential elections.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was officially repealed with the adoption of post-Civil War amendments that abolished slavery and extended political rights to Black Americans.
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When?
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787. The compromise was proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney. Pinckney proposed that for the purposes of apportionment, a "House of Delegates" be determined through the apportionment of "one Member for every thousand Inhabitants 3/5 of Blacks included."
The convention unanimously accepted the principle that representation in the House of Representatives would be in proportion to the relative state populations. However, it initially rejected his proposal regarding the apportionment of the black population. The compromise was the product of negotiations at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population, which would increase their number of members of Congress. The Northern delegates and others opposed to slavery wanted to count only free persons, including free blacks in the North and South.
The compromise that was finally agreed upon—of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers—reduced the representation of the slave states relative to the original proposals but improved it over the Northern position. This compromise was included in the Constitution, which was ratified in 1789.
The Three-Fifths Compromise ended only after the adoption of post-Civil War amendments that abolished slavery and extended political rights to Black Americans.
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Where?
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787. The convention took place in Philadelphia during the hot summer of 1787.
The Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population, which would increase their number of members of Congress. The Northern states, on the other hand, wanted to count only free persons, including free blacks in the North and South. The Southern delegates threatened to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. Pinckney proposed that for the purposes of apportionment, a "House of Delegates" be determined through the apportionment of "one Member for every thousand Inhabitants 3/5 of Blacks included."
The compromise was included in the Constitution, which was ratified in 1789. The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) later superseded the Three-Fifths Compromise and explicitly repealed it.
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Why?
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The Southern states wanted to count the entire slave population, which would increase their number of members of Congress. The Northern states wanted the slaves not to be counted at all. The compromise that was finally agreed upon was to count "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers. This reduced the representation of the slave states relative to the original proposals but improved it over the Northern position.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed by delegate James Wilson and seconded by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina. Pinckney proposed that for the purposes of apportionment, a "House of Delegates" be determined through the apportionment of "one Member for every thousand Inhabitants 3/5 of Blacks included." The Convention unanimously accepted the principle that representation in the House of Representatives would be in proportion to the relative state populations. However, it initially rejected his proposal regarding the apportionment of the black population.
The Compromise was an attempt to balance the sectional interests of the Northern and Southern states and to preserve the unity of the new United States. It was also a way to confront the moral and systemic evils of slavery while acknowledging the commitment to the sanctity of private property rights and the principles of limited government.
The Compromise had significant political implications, as it gave the slaveholding states an artificial bump in representation in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives. This extra representation resulted in eight of the first nine presidential elections being won by slave-owning Virginians. It also influenced the outcome of the 1800 election, as Thomas Jefferson may have lost to John Adams without the additional slave state votes.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was not a step toward ending slavery, as some have claimed. Instead, it reinforced the institution of slavery and benefited the Southern states. It was a compromise that attempted to balance the interests of the North and the South while preserving the union and confronting the moral evils of slavery.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement between delegates from the Northern and Southern states at the 1787 Constitutional Convention that three-fifths of the enslaved population would be considered when determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.
Delegates from the Northern and Southern states were involved. Southern delegates threatened to abandon the convention if enslaved individuals were not counted, while Northern delegates argued that only free persons should be counted.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was proposed during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It was part of a provision of the original Constitution that dealt with how to allocate seats in the House of Representatives and distribute taxes based on population.
