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Question

Article I, section 2, clause 3 of the Constitution was the result of the Three-fifths Compromise at the Constitutional Convention. It reads: "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons."

How did the Three-fifths Compromise affect the relationship between the states prior to the Civil War?
A
.

It gave states with more territory more influence than was warranted by the size of their voting population.
B.

It gave free states more influence than was warranted by the size of their voting population.
C.

It gave states with less territory more influence than was warranted by the size of their voting population.
D.

It gave slave-holding states more influence than was warranted by the size of their voting population.

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

D. It gave slave-holding states more influence than was warranted by the size of their voting population.

The Three-fifths Compromise allowed slave-holding states to count three-fifths of their enslaved population for purposes of representation and taxation, thus providing those states with greater representation in Congress than they would have had based solely on their free population. This increased influence contributed to tensions between slave-holding and free states leading up to the Civil War.