The 3/5ths compromise is an interesting and often misunderstood one. Slave owning states wanted their slaves counted in the state’s population, because more people means more representation in the House of Representatives, and more electoral college votes. Since slaves didn’t have any say in politics, this solely benefited the people who owned them. Free states didn’t want slaves counted towards the census for that exact reason, and the 3/5ths compromise came out of that disagreement. It was never about how much of a person slaves are, and the bad guys got their way by exploiting their slaves for even more political power.
The 3/5ths compromise is an interesting and often misunderstood one. Slave owning states wanted their slaves counted in the state’s population, because more people means more representation in the House of Representatives, and more electoral college votes. Since slaves didn’t have any say in politics, this solely benefited the people who owned them. Free states didn’t want slaves counted towards the census for that exact reason, and the 3/5ths compromise came out of that disagreement. It was never about how much of a person slaves are, and the bad guys got their way by exploiting their slaves for even more political power.