What was the Three-Fifths Compromise? Once the Connecticut Compromise settled that the seats in the House would be based on state population, the delegates argued over whether slaves should be counted in the populations of the southern states. Because their numbers were significant—with 90 percent of all slaves residing in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia—most delegates from the slave-holding states argued that their numbers be factored. The North, however, disagreed. The result ended with the Three-Fifths Compromise, which determined that “three-fifths of all other persons” would be counted; in other words, five slaves would instead be counted as three. This formula was also used to calculate the amount of money raised in each state by any direct tax levied by Congress.

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