The Three-Fifths Compromise counted enslaved people for purposes of representation, not to protect the interests of the enslaved people, but to advance the interests of the slaveholders. Here is how it happened: the Framers of the Constitution agreed that there should be proportional representation in the House of Representatives, but disagreed on whether to count enslaved people for purposes of representation. Southern states held many enslaved people in bondage, but Northern states held few. The two sides came to a compromise: they would count three out of every five enslaved people, hence the term \"Three-Fifths Compromise.\" Sadly, this would remain in the Constitution until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.

Center for Civic Education