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"

The Power of a Fraction

The three-fifths clause is perhaps the most misunderstood provision of
the U.S. Constitution. The clause provides that representation in
Congress will be based on "the whole Number of free Persons" and "three
fifths of all other Persons." The "other Persons" were slaves. Despite
popular understandings, this provision did not declare that African
Americans were three-fifths of a person. Rather, the provision declared
that the slave states would get extra representation in Congress for
their slaves, even though those states treated slaves purely as property.

Thus, this was a provision that was not directly about race but about
status and the allocation of political power. Free blacks were counted
in exactly the same way as whites. The clause did not say that a slave
was three-fifths of a person. The clause said nothing about free blacks,
who were treated by the clause exactly as free whites were.

Rather, the clause provided a mathematical formula that allowed for the
allocation of representatives in Congress that factored in the slave
population. No slaves could vote in the country (although free blacks
could vote in a number of states), and the clause did not provide a
voice for slaves. This was about the distribution of political power
among the states.
"
Remember slaves were not immigrated through government houses. They
were a source of hard labor. The south got representatives for the
House.


Martin

On 7/5/2015 9:03 PM, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 05 Jul 2015 08:04:18 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

On Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:05:24 -0500, Martin Eastburn
wrote:

And let us not forget the NORTH was FORCED to give freedom to slaves
when and only when the constitution was amended to prevent slavery.

And who amended the Constitution, Martin? Are you saying that the
northerners forced themselves?

But I wonder. Was the 3/5th clause the part that caused the amendment?

There were white, black and in the white batch lots of Irish.

No there weren't. Not in North America. There were white indentured
servants. They were freed of their indenture after a contract period
-- usually five years.
--
cheers,

John B.