Question

Critique the following constitutional provision protecting the property of slave owners. What would be an advantage of this policy?
"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 to 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."
(1 point)
Identifying enslaved people as property ensures that Southern slave states remain part of the Union.
Taxes are divided on an equal basis regardless of race, ensuring taxation is fair.
The national government assesses taxation on an equal basis, regardless of state population size.
States retain the power to decide what taxes will be paid to the federal government, thus increasing state autonomy.

Answer 1

Correct answer: 1.

Explanation: Counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person increased Southern representation in Congress and the Electoral College compared with counting only free persons, making the compromise attractive to slaveholding states and helping secure their agreement to join the Union. (This advantage came at the moral and political cost of treating enslaved people as property rather than full persons and helped entrench slavery.)