Three+Fifth+Compromise

 Three Fifths Compromise Only the Southern states had large numbers of slaves. Counting them as part of the population would greatly increase the South's political power, but it would also mean paying higher taxes. This was a price the Southern states were willing to pay. They argued in favor of counting slaves. Northern states disagreed. The delegates compromised. Each slave would count as three-fifths of a person. Some historians have suggested there was more to the three-fifths compromise. While the Constitutional Convention was debating in Philadelphia, Congress under the Articles of Confederation was meeting in New York, 80 miles away. With many members absent and the South for the moment holding a majority, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, which banned slavery in the Northwest Territory. (This land would later be divided into five states: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and part of Wisconsin.) Some historians believe that the Northwest Ordinance was part of the three-fifths compromise.