Three-Fifths Compromise
During the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787, one of the
issues that the Framers had to address is “Should slaves count towards a
state’s population?” Southern states argued that they should because they
had many slaves because of the abundance of farm land. Northern states
did not like the idea of slaves counting towards a states’ population
because they didn’t have as many. The compromise that was reached was
called the Three-Fifths Compromise. This said that a state could count
three-fifths, or 60%, of their slaves towards their total population.
Show your work!
1. A state had 2,500 slaves, according to the Three-Fifths Compromise,
how many could they count towards their total population?
2. The state of Virginia counted 13,000 slaves towards their population.
How many total slaves did the state of Virginia have?
3. The state of South Carolina counted 8,400 slaves towards their
population. How many total slaves did the state of South Carolina have?
4. Georgia had 92,000 slaves and reported 55,200 and North Carolina had
82,000 slaves and reported 55,200. Which states’ report was incorrect?
Explain.