Question

How did the three-fifths compromise help the South preserve slavery?

Answer 1

Hint: The United States' Founding Fathers disputed the question of slavery. The South's fathers embraced slavery because of the economic dependency of their region on slave labour and their own ethnic discrimination. Others opposed slavery, believing that the new American government was fundamental to democracy, but chose to reconcile the North and South over the abolition of slavery.

Complete answer: Three-fifths compromise, compromise arrangement at the United States Constitutional Convention (1787) between delegates from the Northern and Southern states that three-fifths of the slave population must be counted to establish direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives.In calculating the total population of a state, delegates asked whether and how slaves would be counted, as this figure would decide the number of seats in the House of Representatives of a state and how much it would pay in taxes.
In order to distribute the House of Representatives, the agreement counted three-fifths of each state's slave population against the overall population of that state, giving the Southern states a third, more Congressional seats, and third, more electoral votes than if slaves were ignored, but fewer than if slaves and free people were counted equally. Delegate James Wilson suggested the agreement and Charles Pinckney seconded it.

Note: The topic of how individuals can be decided was anything but trivial. Some delegates from the Northern States tried to make representation based on the size of the free population of a territory, having failed to guarantee the abolition of slavery.On the other hand, Southern delegates, if enslaved individuals were not counted, threatened to leave the convention.