Question

to whom did the 3/5 apply

Answer 1

The constitution was a document based on a compromise: between larger and smaller states, between supporters of a strong central government and those who favored strong state governments and, above all, between northern and southern states. Of all the concessions on which the constitution was based, perhaps the most contentious compromise was the Three-Fifths Settlement, an agreement to count three-fifths of the state's slaves in the distribution of MPs, presidential voters, and direct taxes. The three-fifths were the result of a debate in the Continental Congress in 1783. The three-fifths settlement greatly enhanced southern political power. In the Continental Congress, where every state had an equal vote, there were only five states in which slavery was a major institution. Thus the southern states obtained about 38 percent of the seats in the Continental Congress. Due to a Three-Fifth Settlement in 1787, the Southern states had approximately 45 percent of the seats in the 1st U.S. Congress, which took office in 1790.