Three-Fifths Compromise

Examples of Three-Fifths Compromise in the following topics:

• The Debate over Slavery

  • Delegates James Wilson and Robert Sherman proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, which the convention eventually adopted.
  • The final compromise established the policy of counting each slaves as only three-fifths of a person.
  • The three-fifths ratio was not a new concept; it had originated with a 1783 amendment proposed to the Articles of Confederation.
  • After proposed compromises of one-half by Benjamin Harrison of Virginia and three-fourths by several New Englanders failed to gain sufficient support, Congress finally settled on the three-fifths ratio James Madison proposed.
  • While the original amendment to the Articles of Confederation had failed, the Three-Fifths Compromise was passed without extensive debate in the forming of the new Constitution.

• The Legal Ramifications for Slavery

  • Slaves comprised approximately one-fifth of the population in the American colonies.
  • However, three states were already in favor of abolishing property requirements.
  • This is referred to as the Three-Fifths Compromise.
  • The high percentages of slavery in the south made the Three-Fifths Compromise extremely important.
  • James Madison proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was eventually adopted as a Constitutional provision.

• Federalists and Antifederalists

  • Eventually, the Compromise was accepted, and the Convention was saved.
  • Compromises were important in settling other disputes at the Convention.
  • The Three-Fifths Compromise designated that three-fifths of slave population would be counted toward representation in Congress.
  • In another compromise, the Congress agreed to ban slave trade after 1808.
  • Three Federalists—Alexander Hamilton , James Madison, and John Jay—wrote a series of essays called The Federalist Papers.

• Amending the Constitution

  • There are two additional ways to approve an amendment: One is through ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures.
  • Alternatively, an amendment can be ratified by three-fourths of specially convoked state convention.
  • The amendment process originally came with restrictions protecting some agreements that the Great Compromise had settled during the Constitutional Convention.
  • The Great Compromise (also called the Connecticut Compromise) was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
  • It called for a bicameral legislature along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states.This agreement led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which meant less populous Southern states were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free people toward population counts and allocations.

• The Constitutional Convention

  • To resolve this stalemate, the Connecticut Compromise, forged by Roger Sherman from Connecticut, was proposed on June 11.
  • This committee helped work out a compromise: In exchange for this concession, the federal government's power to regulate foreign commerce would be strengthened by provisions that allowed for taxation of slave trades in the international market and that reduced the requirement for passage of navigation acts from two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress to simple majority.
  • The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the enumerated population of slaves would be counted for representation purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives.

• A New Constitution

  • However, the Connecticut Compromise proposed by Roger Sherman outlined a system of bicameral legislation that included both proportional and equal representation.
  • The Three-Fifths Compromise, which assessed population by adding the number of free persons to three-fifths of the number of "all other persons" was agreed to without serious dispute.
  • Under this compromise, each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person, allowing the slave states to include a portion of their enslaved population when allocating representation.
  • Not all of the delegates were pleased with the results; 13 delegates left before the signing ceremony and three of those remaining refused to sign.
  • Explain the purpose of the Connecticut Compromise and how compromise shaped the creation of the Constitution

• Conclusion: The Development of the Constitution

  • The Three-Fifths Compromise was another agreement made between the Northern and Southern states related to representation of slaves for purposes of legislation and taxation.
  • Under this compromise, each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person, allowing the slave states to include a portion of their enslaved population (or their “property”) when allocating representation.
  • A special committee instead worked out another compromise: Congress would have the power to ban the importation of slaves, but not until at least 20 years had passed, in 1808.
  • The Constitution established three separate branches of government, each of which would have defined powers to check and balance out the powers of the other branches.
  • Summarize the debates and compromises that comprised the process of forming the new Constitution

• "A More Perfect Union"

  • While some compromises made at the convention would strengthen the new republic, other compromises would eventually tear the country apart.
  • Delegates eventually adopted the Connecticut Compromise (or the Great Compromise) which blended the Virginia (large-state) and New Jersey (small-state) proposals.
  • Finally, delegates agreed on the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was able to temporarily keep the young nation together.
  • It is a living and breathing document that can be amended with three-fourths of the state legislatures approval.
  • Identify the compromises Convention delegates made in order to create a More Perfect Union

• The Missouri Compromise

  • The Missouri Compromise of 1820 concerned the regulation of slavery in the western territories.
  • The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and antislavery factions in the U.S.
  • Politicians had sought to avoid the issue of slavery ever since the 1787 Constitutional Convention arrived at an uneasy compromise in the form of the “three-fifths clause.”
  • Congress finally came to an agreement called the "Missouri Compromise" in 1820.
  • The debate leading up to the Compromise raised the issue of sectional balance.

• Final Efforts at Compromise

  • In the House, the Committee of Thirty-Three (composed of one member from each state) was formed to reach a compromise to preserve the Union.
  • The Crittenden Compromise proposed by Senator Crittenden was a final attempt by Democrats to prevent disunion through another compromise.
  • Essentially, the key proposal of the Crittenden Compromise provided for a sectional division of the territories at the old 36, 30' latitude line that would stretch to the Pacific.
  • Furthermore, Southern leaders in the middle and border states refused to agree to the compromise without full endorsement from the Republicans.
  • Crittenden's Compromise was a final attempt to prevent disunion by proposing an extension of the Missouri Compromise boundary between free and slave territories to the Pacific