[youthgonewild]

How is the "three-fifths" of a person a problem with the Constitution? The slave-holding South wanted all of its population - free and slave - to count towards the census so that the South's representation in the House of Representatives would be greater. It was the Northern states which had the "three-fifths" provision put into the Constitution to limit the power of the South.

I may be wrong, but it looks like you're saying what the North did was unfair to the South, but I just may be misreading it.

[dvwjr]

No, I am pointing out that the much belittled "three-fifths" of a person mentioned in the Federal Constitution is usually ascribed to the 'evil' slave-holding South - which would have been happy to see slaves counted as a whole person, just as were women and childern. The provision should be tied to the Northern States.

You see, while slaves, women and childern all were counted in the census taken every ten years to allocated Congressional representation, only the white property-holding males were at first entitled to the Federal vote. The Northern States had wanted slaves counted as were Indians for the purposes of the census - not at all. So when the racial tub-thumpers get up on their historical hight horse, they should at least give credit to the Northern States for that phrase being in the US Constitution...


dvwjr