And at the insistence of the southern ones, those same people got 0/5ths of the vote or representation in Congress.
Still, many people say the north can never be forgiven for having participated and profitted from slavery - for slave transport, financing, actual use of slaves for hundreds of years, and for agreeing to write a constitution permitting slavery. No one can condone this. We must condemn the north in the strongest possible terms.
I managed to scan right passed this point, and it’s a good one. It’s entirely disingenuous to suggest that the 3/5ths rule came at “the insistence of the northern states”. Both parties had a hand in the compromise. Helpful hint: that’s why it’s called a compromise.
The only revenue system available to the newly formed Confederation was basically a “head count” as the basis for determining the wealth of each state, and therefore its tax obligations. The north wanted to count a man as a man. The south bitterly complained that counting slaves unfairly burdened the southern states and didn’t want them counted at all. This first 3/5ths compromise failed but formed the basis for the second go-round.
The second time was after the ratification of the US Constitution and a count was to be made for determining representation in congress. The north said, “you don’t even recognize them as people and you certainly won’t let them vote” so they shouldn’t be counted. This time the south bitterly complained that they were being cheated out of proper representation by omitting the slave population. This time the 3/5ths compromise was successful and the south dominated American politics right up until they attempted mass suicide.