The Importance of Getting History Right, Part 1

The Importance of Getting History Right, Part 1
Defog Your Rearview Mirror
7/22/16
In this post we examine the Three-Fifths Clause in the original draft of the US Constitution. It authorized that when state populations were counted to determine representation in the House of Representatives and for taxation purposes, slaves would be numbered in a manner different from the way free individuals would be counted. For every 30,000 free individuals, each state got a representative in the House. It took 50,000 slaves, however—not 30,000—for a state to merit a representative. Thus, on paper, one could argue that for representation and taxation purposes, every enslaved person counted as three-fifths of an individual. Today this approach sounds cruel and inhuman, but we allow ourselves to be misled if we jump to conclusions. What was behind the Three-Fifths Clause and the compromise it represented? What did this provision really mean? The answer almost certainly will surprise you.

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