What is the 3 5 clause in the Constitution?
Asked by: Carter Hintz | Last update: February 11, 2026Score: 4.4/5 (1 votes)
The "3/5 Clause" refers to the Three-Fifths Compromise in the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 2), which counted three out of every five enslaved people when determining a state's total population for both congressional representation and direct taxation, significantly boosting Southern states' political power in the House of Representatives and Electoral College. This compromise, reached at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, legally counted enslaved individuals as less than full persons for political purposes while simultaneously making them part of the population count that gave slaveholding states more power, and was later repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
What is the 3 5 clause of the Constitution?
At its most basic, the three-fifths clause stipulated that three-fifths of the enslaved population of a state would be counted alongside five-fifths of the free population for determining how many members in the House of Representatives each state received.
When did black people count as 3-5?
The Three-fifths Compromise, also known as the Constitutional Compromise of 1787, was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the inclusion of slaves in counting a state's total population.
What problem did the 3-5 compromise aim to address?
The Three-fifths Compromise was a pivotal agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, addressing the contentious issue of how enslaved individuals would be counted for purposes of taxation and representation in the United States Congress.
What is Article 1 Section 3 Clause 5 of the Constitution?
Clause 5 Officers
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The US Constitution, 3/5, and the Slave Trade Clause: Crash Course Black American History #9
Did the founding fathers put God in the Constitution?
No, the U.S. Constitution does not explicitly mention God or a supreme being in its main text, a deliberate choice by the Founding Fathers to establish a secular government and protect religious freedom, though it does contain a date reference ("Year of our Lord") and the First Amendment prevents religious tests for office, reflecting a consensus on separation of church and state despite their personal faith.
Can the President overturn a supreme Court ruling?
No, the President cannot directly overturn a Supreme Court decision; only the Court itself (through a new ruling), the Constitution (via amendment), or new legislation by Congress can overturn a major ruling, though Presidents can try to influence future decisions by appointing new justices or challenge rulings through appeals, and historically, some have selectively enforced or ignored certain rulings, as seen with Lincoln and the Dred Scott case.
Is 3-5 still in Constitution?
No, the Three-Fifths Compromise is not still in the Constitution; it was officially repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 after the Civil War, which changed the basis for congressional representation to count the "whole number of persons" in each state, thereby ending the practice of counting only three-fifths of enslaved people. The original clause in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution is now superseded and considered inoperative, replaced by the principle of counting all people for representation, with a provision to reduce representation for states denying voting rights to adult males.
What replaced the Three-Fifths Compromise?
After the Union's victory in the Civil War, Congress explicitly abolished the Three-Fifths Compromise through the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Did all states support the 3/5 compromise?
Finally, James Madison suggested a compromise: a 5-to-3 ratio. All but two states--New Hampshire and Rhode Island--approved this recommendation. But because the Articles of Confederation required unanimous agreement, the proposal was defeated.
What were Black people called in the 1500s?
In the 1500s, Black people were referred to by various terms, often linked to geography or perceived religion, including Moors, Ethiopians (used broadly for Africans), Negroes, Blackamoors, and sometimes Saracens, with the evolving concept of "race" starting to formalize but still blended with older cultural labels. Terms like "Moor" described dark-skinned people, often Muslims from North Africa, while "Negro" (from Spanish/Portuguese for black) became a common label for enslaved Africans, as seen in records from the period.
When did blacks get equal rights in the USA?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was rooted in the struggle of Americans of African descent to obtain basic rights of citizenship in the nation.
Are Black people considered human in the Constitution?
Race and the Constitution
Our founding principles are colorblind (although our history, regrettably, has not been). The Constitution speaks of people, citizens, persons, other persons (a euphemism for slaves) and Indians not taxed (in which case, it is their tax-exempt status, and not their skin color, that matters).
Were slaves considered human?
Although the enslaved of the early Republic were considered sentient property, were not permitted to vote, and had no rights to speak of, they were to be enumerated in population censuses and counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of representation in the national legislature, the U.S. Congress.
Can the President be removed from office?
The Senate holds an impeachment trial. In the case of a president, the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice presides. Learn more about the Senate's role in the impeachment process. If found guilty, the official is removed from office.
Did the 14th Amendment get rid of the 3-5 compromise?
Yes, the 14th Amendment effectively eliminated the Three-Fifths Compromise by mandating that states count the "whole number of persons" for congressional representation, rather than the three-fifths previously used for "other persons" (enslaved people), following the abolition of slavery by the 13th Amendment. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment specifically changed the apportionment method, ensuring formerly enslaved people were counted fully, thus nullifying the earlier compromise that boosted Southern states' political power.
What was the US called before 1776?
Before 1776, the land that became the United States was known as British America, a collection of distinct colonies, often called the "United Colonies" (or "United Colonies of North America") by the colonists themselves, who identified more with their specific colony than a unified nation. The name "United States of America" first appeared in the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, officially adopted by the Second Continental Congress in September 1776.
What is the difference between the 1973 constitution and the 1987 Constitution?
The 1987 Constitution contains additional protections and principles compared to the 1973 Constitution in key areas like the Bill of Rights, separation of church and state, foreign policy, human rights, health, ecology, education, and economic policy.
Were slaves considered 3/5 of a person?
Article one, section two of the Constitution of the United States declared that any person who was not free would be counted as three-fifths of a free individual for the purposes of determining congressional representation. The "Three-Fifths Clause" thus increased the political power of slaveholding states.
Does the Constitution say every man is equal?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Was the Electoral College part of the original Constitution?
The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
Is the 3-5 compromise pro-slavery or anti-slavery?
Although this provision has traditionally been cited as evidence that the Constitution was a pro-slavery document (though never actually using the term “slavery”), historians have more recently begun to emphasize the “anti-slavery” aspects of the clause, or at least to argue that it reflects an ambivalence toward ...
Has any president ignored a Supreme Court ruling?
Yes, presidents have ignored or defied Supreme Court rulings, most famously Andrew Jackson with the Cherokee Nation (Trail of Tears) and Abraham Lincoln by suspending habeas corpus, but this is rare and often leads to constitutional crises, with recent instances involving defiance in deportation cases under the Trump administration. Other examples include governors defying rulings on segregation (Faubus, Barnett) and FDR's stance on military tribunals, highlighting ongoing tensions between executive power and judicial authority.
Who can remove the judge from the Supreme Court?
Only the U.S. Congress, through the impeachment process, can remove a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, requiring the House of Representatives to impeach (majority vote) and the Senate to convict (two-thirds vote) for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors," granting them lifetime appointments ("good behavior").
Who has more power, a judge or the President?
Federal laws, for example, are passed by Congress and signed by the President. The judicial branch, in turn, has the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other cases involving federal laws. But judges depend upon the executive branch to enforce court decisions.