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.

• African Americans and the Republic

  • Finally, delegates James Wilson and Robert Sherman proposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, which the convention eventually adopted.
  • This final compromise established the policy of counting slaves as three-fifths of a person.

• The Reconstruction Amendments

  • During and immediately after the Civil War, the US congress passed three constitutional amendments that provided political and social equality for black Americans.
  • Slavery had been tacitly enshrined in the original Constitution through provisions such as Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, commonly known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which detailed how each state's total slave population would be factored into its total population count for the purposes of apportioning seats in the United States House of Representatives and direct taxes among the states.
  • In addition to abolishing slavery and prohibiting involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, the Thirteenth Amendment also nullified the Fugitive Slave Clause and the Three-Fifths Compromise.
  • The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1868, was the second of three Reconstruction Amendments.
  • The three main clauses of the amendment are the citizenship clause, the due process clause, and the equal protection clause.

• 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

• The Bill of Rights

  • The House of Representatives adopted them on on August 21, 1789, they were formally proposed by joint resolution of Congress on September 25, 1789, and they came into effect as Constitutional amendments on December 15, 1791, through the process of ratification by three-fourths of the states.
  • Only after two leading Anti-Federalists, John Adams and John Hancock, negotiated a far-reaching compromise did the convention vote for ratification on February 6, 1788.
  • Under the Massachusetts Compromise, the delegates recommended that the new Congress consider the amendments should the Constitution enter into force.
  • The Massachusetts Compromise determined the fate of the Constitution, as it permitted delegates with doubts to vote for it in the hope that it would be amended.
  • Fifth Amendment: guarantees due process, prohibits legal double jeopardy, protects against self-incrimination, establishes eminent domain