USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Southern states wanted to count all the enslaved people to determine how many Representatives in Congress they would have. Northern states countered that if enslaved people were counted for representation, they should also be counted for determining taxes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Northerners at the Constitutional Convention wanted slaves not to count as persons at all, because the Northerners didn’t want the slave states to get all those seats in the House. Not all Northerners opposed slavery, but they opposed giving the South political power based on nonvoting slaves.

Detailed explanation-3: -Southern States wanted to count the total slave population while Northern States did not want to count any slaves in making the apportionment. Another compromise determined that three-fifths of the total slave population should be counted in apportioning both representatives and direct taxes.

Detailed explanation-4: -Only the Southern states had large numbers of slaves. Counting them as part of the population would greatly increase the South’s political power, but it would also mean paying higher taxes. This was a price the Southern states were willing to pay. They argued in favor of counting slaves.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Three-Fifths Compromise was reached among state delegates during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It determined that three out of every five slaves was counted when determining a state’s total population for legislative representation and taxation.