The Three Fifths Compromise

The Three Fifths Compromise

Article I Section 2 Paragraph 3 of The Constitution of the United States, when written, included the formula for determining, for representation purposes, the population of a state.  It stated, “…their respective Number, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxes, three fifths of all other persons.”

Fredrick Douglas was an escaped slave who became a scholar and a leader of the abolitionist movement in the late 1850’s just before the Civil War.  When Mr. Douglas first heard about the clause in the U.S. Constitution he was appalled and asked the famous question, “Am I but 3/5 a man?”  After Douglas researched the reason behind the Three Fifths Compromise he later conceded that the compromise was, in fact, anti-slavery.

When our constitution was being drafted that part of Article I was dubbed “The Three Fifths Compromise.”  It was not, as some still today claim, a slight against persons held in bondage, but was necessary to insure passage of the Constitution as a whole.  The fact of the matter is, the southern states, which were already dependent upon slavery for their very existence even before the Revolutionary War, wanted to count all slaves in their census to determine the number of representatives their respective states would have in Congress.  The industrial northern states opposed the slave states counting slaves at all. The reasons for the dispute require a bit of a lesson in Civics.

This country was blessed to have some serious geniuses that happened along exactly when our country needed them.  One of the most ingenious accomplishments of the founding fathers was the legislature consisting of two separate houses.  The bicameral legislature was not a completely original idea; the British Parliament is also a bicameral legislature.  It was the way that legislators were selected to each house that was novel and such a stroke of genius.

The original thirteen colonies were of various sizes, from tiny Rhode Island to the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia.  At the time of the drafting of The Constitution these southern states were much larger than we know them today.  In the case of Virginia and Georgia, the state lines were surveyed all the way to the Mississippi River.   So this is where the genius comes in; the drafters of the Constitution gave each state, regardless of size or population, two senators so that each state had equal representation.  In the House of Representatives the number of Congressmen was based on the population so that each person in the republic had equal representation.  But at this point the states in which slavery was legal, mainly the southern states, cried, “Foul.”

The southerners knew that the northern states were becoming more and more industrialized and that the abolitionist movement was starting to gain some popularity in those states.  They knew that to maintain the practice of slavery a constant battle would have to be fought.  Remember, there were thirteen original colonies.  Seven colonies did not allow slavery.  There were only six that did.  So in the Senate, the slave states were already at a disadvantage since there were 14 senators from Free states and only 12 from slave states.  The southern states hoped to gain the advantage in the House by insisting that the slaves be counted in the census to establish the number of Congressmen from each state.  The northern states had some serious objections.  The northern states reminded the southern states that the slaves were considered “property” instead of people in every other way except determining the number of representatives.  The representatives from the northern states pointed out that the slaves did not have the right to vote, so how could they be represented?  They argued that if the southern farmers could count their slaves as population, then northern farmers should be allowed to count their cows for the same reason. 

This sounds quite silly and it was, but these were the arguments that the northern states used in the hope of maintaining an advantage of numbers in Congress.  They knew that they would have to have numbers over the southern states if they were to be able to enact laws that would eventually abolish slavery.  The southern states were well aware that this was the northern state’s real intention so they insisted on counting their slaves so that they could have enough representatives to keep the anti-slavery laws from being passed.

The result was a total deadlock.  The southern states would never ratify a Constitution that didn’t allow them to count their slaves in the census and the northern states would never ratify one that did.  Thank God for Henry Clay.  He was known as “The Great Compromiser” and found a happy medium to which both sides would agree.  The Three Fifths Compromise allowed the southern states to count 3/5 of the slaves in the census to determine representation in Congress.  This number gave just about an equal number of representatives from the slave states and the Free states. 

With equal numbers in the House, the abolitionists could begin to enact laws with the goal of eventually ending slavery in this country.  It was a long uphill climb and would have taken several decades to bring about the end of slavery, but would have eventually accomplished that end had it not been for the fact that the southern states saw the writing on the wall and decided that to continue with their lifestyles they would have to secede from the Union.  I think we all know what the end result of that was.

When Frederick Douglas learned the real reason behind the 3/5 Compromise he readily admitted that it was an anti-slavery act and supported it 100%.  The Three Fifths Compromise did not, by itself, end slavery, but it put into motion the acts that would eventually bring about the end of this terrible practice.  The portion of our Constitution that mentions this compromise was nullified by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Yes, counting slaves as 3/5 of a man was wrong, but The Constitution of The United States of America included a section about how the document could be changed.  After the 3/5 Compromise accomplished what it was set out to do, it was changed, and the Constitution guided this fledgling republic to be the greatest country that the world has ever known.

John A. Wilson

President

Conservative Action Project of Union County

El Dorado, Arkansas