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When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, many states allowed slavery- rich people, mainly farmers in southern states, could actually own people and force them to work without paying them.
So when the Founding Fathers were writing up how to set up Congress, they decided the House of Representatives would be based on state populations- a state would get a number of representatives based on how many people lived in that state. Those states with a lot of slaves wanted to count the slaves towards how many people lived in the state- it would increase the number of representatives they would have in Congress, and would allow them to have more power in determining Federal government policy- and it goes beyond just having more representatives in the House. But states that didn't have a lot of slaves didn't want that to happen. For one, slaves had not only no right to vote, they had no right to do anything except what their owners told them to do. Secondly, it would give too much power to those states with a lot of slaves, as stated above.
The Three-fifths clause was a compromise. It said that slaves only counted as 3/5 of a person, so they would increase the population number for slave-holding states, but not so much that they would get a huge advantage in Congress. This became Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution.
This was used to apportion the number of Congressional seats given to a state. This was needed because the south being heavily populated with slaves as compared to the north felt that without such a compromise power in the House of Representatives would be weighted in favor of the northern industrial states and would leave the mostly agricultural south without equal footing. Thus ratification of the Constitution by southern states was greatly increased with this compromise.
Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 (the 3/5 compromise) was overridden by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the USA (thus there were no slaves to be counted as 3/5 of a person) and the 14th Amendment which explicitly declared all the former slaves, who were born in the USA as US citizens AND (in Section 2 of the Amendment) counted them as a whole person:
"Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
What else can I help you with?
How was the three fifths Compromise related to the Constitutional Convention?
the three fifths compromise was discussed during the constitutional convention
What problems did the three fifths Compromise and the Great Compromise solve?
it solved the issue of how people were going to be represented in government. the three fifths compromise stated that three out of five southern blacks would count as people, and the great compromise set up the bicameral houses of legislation. the house representation based on population, and the senate giving each state two representatives.
What are facts about the three-fifths compromise?
nothing
How did the three fifths compromise contradict the Declaration of Independence?
The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, but the Three Fifths Compromise implies that they are not.
Where was the three-fifths compromise originally stated in the constitution?
The Three-Fifths Compromise is found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution
What is the correct chronological order of these eventsCompromise of 1850, Three-Fifths Compromise, Missouri Compromise,Emancipation Proclamation?
Three-Fifths Compromise, Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Emancipation Proclamation
Why did they have a three-fifths compromise?
The Perpouse of the three-fifths compromise was to make the population fare
How did the north feel about the Three-Fifths Compromise?
The Northern States were pleased by Three-Fifths Compromise.
What compromise was reached over the issue of slave trade?
The compromise that was reached over the issue of slave trade was "Three-Fifths Compromise's.
How was the three fifths Compromise related to the Constitutional Convention?
the three fifths compromise was discussed during the constitutional convention
Was the three fifth compromise fair?
the three fifths compromise was not fair
What was the result of the Connecticut Compromise?
Three-Fifths Compromise
What did three-fifths compromise do?
Allowed a slave to count as Three-Fifths of a person
What is a description of the three fifths compromise?
No.
What problems did the three fifths Compromise and the Great Compromise solve?
it solved the issue of how people were going to be represented in government. the three fifths compromise stated that three out of five southern blacks would count as people, and the great compromise set up the bicameral houses of legislation. the house representation based on population, and the senate giving each state two representatives.
Number of slaves counted for representation in the constitution?
it is a Compromise, which stipulates that three/fifths of the slave population would be counted for purposes of representation.
What do the three-fifths compromise do?
allowed the slave states to count a slave as three-fifths of a person
