Glossary term
Three-Fifths Compromise
1787 agreement counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation.
Historical context
The Three-fifths Compromise, also known as the Constitutional Compromise of 1787, was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the inclusion of slaves in counting a state's total population. This count would determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state would be allocated, and how much money the states would pay in taxes.