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)

Question

Responses
Taxes are divided on an equal basis regardless of race, ensuring taxation is fair.

Identifying enslaved people as property ensures that Southern slave states remain part of the Union.

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

One advantage of this policy is that it ensured the southern slave states would remain part of the Union. By counting enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning taxes and representation, it placated the slave states and prevented them from potentially seceding from the Union. This helped maintain the stability and unity of the country during a time when tensions over slavery were high.