<P> The Three - Fifths Compromise was a compromise reached among state delegates during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention . Whether, and if so, how, slaves would be counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxing purposes was important, as this population number would then be used to determine the number of seats that the state would have in the United States House of Representatives for the next ten years . The compromise solution was to count three out of every five slaves as a person for this purpose . Its effect was to give the southern states a third more seats in Congress and a third more electoral votes than if slaves had been ignored, but fewer than if slaves and free people had been counted equally, thus allowing the slaveholder interests to largely dominate the government of the United States until 1861 . The compromise was proposed by delegates James Wilson and Roger Sherman . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Part of a series on Slavery </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Contemporary (show) <Ul> <Li> Child labour </Li> <Li> Child soldiers </Li> <Li> Conscription </Li> <Li> Debt </Li> <Li> Forced marriage <Ul> <Li> Bride buying </Li> <Li> Wife selling </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Forced prostitution </Li> <Li> Human trafficking </Li> <Li> Peonage </Li> <Li> Penal labour </Li> <Li> Sexual slavery </Li> <Li> Wage slavery </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Historical (show) <Dl> <Dt> Antiquity </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Ancient Rome </Li> <Li> Babylonia </Li> <Li> Ancient Greece </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> Topics and practices </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Atlantic slave trade <Ul> <Li> Middle Passage </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Arab slave trade <Ul> <Li> Ghilman </Li> <Li> Mamluk </Li> <Li> Saqaliba </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Aztec </Li> <Li> Blackbirding </Li> <Li> Byzantine Empire </Li> <Li> Coolie </Li> <Li> Corvée labor </Li> <Li> Field slaves in the United States </Li> <Li> House slaves </Li> <Li> Kholop </Li> <Li> Medieval Europe </Li> <Li> Panyarring </Li> <Li> Thrall </Li> <Li> Serfs <Ul> <Li> History </Li> <Li> Russia </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Slave market </Li> <Li> Slave raiding </Li> <Li> Child soldiers </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> Naval </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Galley slave </Li> <Li> Impressment </Li> <Li> Pirates </Li> <Li> Shanghaiing </Li> <Li> Slave ship </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> By country or region (show) <Dl> <Dt> Sub-Saharan Africa </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Contemporary Africa </Li> <Li> Slavery on the Barbary Coast </Li> <Li> Barbary slave trade </Li> <Li> Slave Coast </Li> <Li> Angola </Li> <Li> Chad </Li> <Li> Ethiopia </Li> <Li> Mali </Li> <Li> Mauritania </Li> <Li> Niger </Li> <Li> Somalia </Li> <Li> South Africa </Li> <Li> Sudan </Li> <Li> Seychelles </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> North and South America </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Americas indigenous <Ul> <Li> U.S. Natives </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Brazil <Ul> <Li> Lei Áurea </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Canada </Li> <Li> Caribbean <Ul> <Li> Barbados </Li> <Li> Code Noir </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Cuba </Li> <Li> Haiti <Ul> <Li> revolt </Li> <Li> Restavek </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Latin America </Li> <Li> Puerto Rico </Li> <Li> Trinidad </Li> <Li> United States <Ul> <Li> colonial </Li> <Li> maps </Li> <Li> female </Li> <Li> partus </Li> <Li> penal labor </Li> <Li> Slave codes </Li> <Li> interregional </Li> <Li> Human trafficking </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Virgin Islands </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> Central, East, and South Asia </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Human trafficking in Southeast Asia </Li> <Li> Bhutan </Li> <Li> China <Ul> <Li> Booi Aha </Li> <Li> Laogai </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> India <Ul> <Li> Debt bondage </Li> <Li> Chukri System </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Japan <Ul> <Li> comfort women </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> South Korea <Ul> <Li> Yankee princess </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> North Korea </Li> <Li> Vietnam </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> Australia and Oceania </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Blackbirding in Australia </Li> <Li> Human trafficking in Australia </Li> <Li> Slave raiding in Easter Island </Li> <Li> Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea </Li> <Li> Blackbirding in Polynesia </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> Europe and North Asia </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Sex trafficking in Europe </Li> <Li> Britain </Li> <Li> Denmark </Li> <Li> Dutch Republic </Li> <Li> Germany in World War II </Li> <Li> Malta </Li> <Li> Norway </Li> <Li> Poland </Li> <Li> Portugal </Li> <Li> Romania </Li> <Li> Russia </Li> <Li> Spain <Ul> <Li> colonies </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Sweden </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dt> North Africa and West Asia </Dt> </Dl> <Ul> <Li> Iran </Li> <Li> Libya </Li> <Li> Human trafficking in the Middle East </Li> <Li> Ottoman Empire </Li> <Li> Yemen </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Religion (show) <Ul> <Li> Bible </Li> <Li> Christianity <Ul> <Li> Catholicism </Li> <Li> Mormonism </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Islam <Ul> <Li> 21st century </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Judaism </Li> <Li> Bahá'í Faith </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Opposition and resistance (show) <Ul> <Li> Timeline </Li> <Li> Abolitionism <Ul> <Li> U.K. </Li> <Li> U.S. </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Anti-Slavery International </Li> <Li> Blockade of Africa <Ul> <Li> U.K. </Li> <Li> U.S. </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Colonization <Ul> <Li> Liberia </Li> <Li> Sierra Leone </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Compensated emancipation </Li> <Li> Freedman <Ul> <Li> manumission </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Freedom suit </Li> <Li> Abolitionists </Li> <Li> Slave Power </Li> <Li> Underground Railroad <Ul> <Li> songs </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Slave rebellion </Li> <Li> Slave Trade Acts </Li> <Li> International law </Li> <Li> 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Related (show) <Ul> <Li> Common law </Li> <Li> Indentured servitude </Li> <Li> Unfree labour </Li> <Li> Fugitive slaves <Ul> <Li> laws </Li> <Li> Great Dismal Swamp maroons </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> List of slaves <Ul> <Li> owners </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Slave narrative <Ul> <Li> films </Li> <Li> songs </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Slave name </Li> <Li> Slave catcher </Li> <Li> Slave patrol </Li> <Li> Slave Route Project </Li> <Li> Treatment in U.S. <Ul> <Li> breeding </Li> <Li> court cases </Li> <Li> Washington </Li> <Li> Jefferson </Li> <Li> Adams </Li> <Li> Lincoln </Li> <Li> 40 acres </Li> <Li> Freedmen's Bureau </Li> <Li> bit </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Emancipation Day </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table>

The three fifths compromise resolved the issue of
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