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"For we got rid of things like having slaves be counted as 3/5 of a person of representation." Just in case you didn't know, the "a slave is 3/5 of a person" t
by 13thLetter 11y ago
"For we got rid of things like having slaves be counted as 3/5 of a person of representation."
Just in case you didn't know, the "a slave is 3/5 of a person" that is so oft-decried today was an anti-slavery measure. For the purposes of Congressional representation, if a slave was counted as a full person, then the slave-owning states would get expanded numbers in Congress for all the non-voters being kept in slavery. Three-fifths, as opposed to full representation, at least kept them from gaining as much power as they would have otherwise. These things generally aren't as simple as one is often told.
- rat87 11y agoI usually prefer -3/5 to emphasize this. I wouldn't call it an anti-slavery measure but one of a long series of compromises on the issue of slavery. Considering 3/5 > ((0 + 1)/2) it seems to be a compromise tilted towards the pro slavery side.