Written By S.C.Young
This past week the United States Constitution was read in the House of Representatives something that has not been done in over 200 years. Unfortunately some parts of The Constitution were not read. One part that was not read was the 3 / 5 Clause and many people have mistaken the meaning to be Pro Slaver...
This past week the United States Constitution was read in the House of Representatives something that has not been done in over 200 years. Unfortunately some parts of The Constitution were not read. One part that was not read was the 3 / 5 Clause and many people have mistaken the meaning to be Pro Slaver...
The 3/5 Clause found in Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution has been missed understood since it was written. The 3/5 Clause was drafted because the way Southern Democrat Slave owners wanted their slaves counted in order to get a majority of representation in The House Of Representative in means that the Southern state knew if they could maintain a majority they could strike down any antislavery legislation.
Representation by population turned out to be more complicated than most anticipated. More questions came up, such as, Who counted? Were slaves, for example, people or property? As people, they would add weight to the Southern delegations in The House of Representatives. However, as property, they would add to the tax burdens of those states.
What emerged to solve this problem is known as the 3/5 Clause. Which states, All free persons plus "three-fifths of all other persons" constituted the numerical base for the appointment of representatives. By using "all other persons" as a substitute for "slaves" indicates the discomfort of acknowledging the existence of slavery in the constitution.
The 3/5 Clause was not meant to say Blacks where only 3/5 of a person as some people have stated. But that the Southern Slave Owners could not count all of his or her slaves for Representation.
At the time 3/5 Clause was drafted the Southern population was 50% Black therefore giving their owners more power on The Hill....
For more on this and more please see the video below....
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