A Difficult Compromise

In the summer of 1787, leaders met in Philadelphia to fix the country’s government. At the Constitutional Convention, they argued about many things, but one issue caused serious disagreement, how to count enslaved people when deciding representation in Congress.

Southern states wanted enslaved people counted as part of their population. If they were counted, those states would have more representatives and more power. Northern states pushed back. They argued that it wasn’t fair to count people who were not free and could not vote.

The debate went on for days. Voices were raised, and some delegates worried the meeting might fall apart. Finally, a compromise was suggested. Instead of fully counting enslaved people or not counting them at all, each enslaved person would count as three-fifths of a person. This became

known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.

Some delegates agreed because they wanted the convention to succeed. Others were uncomfortable with the decision but felt there was no easy answer. The compromise helped the group move forward, but it didn’t solve the deeper problem.

Even after the meeting ended, people continued to question the decision. Was it fair? Should representation be based on total population, or only on those who had rights? Different groups had different opinions, and those disagreements did not go away.