The Three-fifths Clause is older than the Constitution and didn’t begin in a debate over slavery despite the endless modern belief that everything had to.
The 3/5ths clause was part of a tax amendment to the Articles of Confederation debated in 1783, years before there was even a discussion about replacing the Articles.
The Amendment proposed changing the apportionment of taxes from property to population.
But since slaves were a form of property that meant that slaveowning states would still be taxed on property in addition to population. Thomas Jefferson noted that Southern states would be taxed “according to their numbers and their wealth conjunctly, while the northern would be taxed on numbers only”. James Madison proposed the 3/5ths ratio.
When the Continental Congress later debated replacing the Articles the 3/5ths ratio was incorporated into the Constitution for purposes of Representation.
“The 3/5ths clause was part of a tax amendment to the Articles of Confederation debated in 1783, years before there was even a discussion about replacing the Articles.”
Thank you. Believe it or not that info was covered in my sons 8th grade American History book. I was shocked.