The 5/3 Compromise
July 6, 2008
This is not a typo as I am sure you probably thought about the 3/5 Compromise that helped to solidify the political marginalization of Black people in America. This historical update is fitting coming off the heels of the July 4th holiday weekend. Leading up the Constitutional Convention in 1787, there was a growing divide between Northern states and southern states of if and how slaves (the vast majority of which were Black) should be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.
Delegates that opposed slavery (and not all of these delegates were morally pure) only wanted to count free inhabitants of each state. On the other hand, delegates that supported slavery wanted to count their slave population as part of the total population despite the fact that slaves could not vote and were commonly regarded as property. Of course, delegates that supported the latter position would be over represented in the House of Representatives. The “Great Compromise” resulted in what we now understand as the three-fifths compromise. This compromise has been updated for the times and has serious consequences for the future.
