The Three-Fifths Compromise

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a controversial agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention concerning the counting of enslaved individuals for purposes of representation and taxation. Southern states sought to count enslaved persons fully to increase their political power, while Northern states opposed this notion, emphasizing that enslaved individuals were not citizens. Ultimately, the compromise dictated that three out of every five enslaved persons would be counted toward a state's population total. This decision reflected the deep-seated divisions of the time regarding slavery and representation, and it ultimately had profound implications for American politics.