The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of the enslaved population when apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and direct taxes among the states.[1]
Apportionment
The formula gave slaveholding states greater representation than they would have received had only their free populations been counted. Enslaved people gained no political rights from the arrangement.
Constitutional arithmetic
The framers found a way to count people toward a seat in Congress while keeping them from having a say in who sat in it. The additional seats went to the same states that insisted those people couldn’t vote.
Reception
The editorial board gives the compromise 3/5. Under the original rules, the review has been credited to the person who owns the website.