Why did Northern states fight against having enslaved people counted as full citizens?(1 point)
Responses
Northern states viewed enslaved people as property, thus they believed that enslaved people should not be counted as full citizens.
Northern states viewed enslaved people as property, thus they believed that enslaved people should not be counted as full citizens.
The South would benefit greatly from having a high population for high political power in the House of Representatives.
The South would benefit greatly from having a high population for high political power in the House of Representatives.
Northern states knew that they would politically benefit if their population was lower than Southern states.
Northern states knew that they would politically benefit if their population was lower than Southern states.
Northern states fought to have enslaved people counted as full citizens.
The main reason Northern states fought against having enslaved people counted as full persons for representation purposes was that it would give the Southern states more political power in the House of Representatives. This is known as the issue of the Three-Fifths Compromise, which was a constitutional agreement reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787.
The Southern states, where slavery was widespread, wanted to count enslaved people as full persons when apportioning representatives because it would have increased their representation in Congress. However, the Northern states argued that if enslaved people were not allowed to vote or exercise the rights of citizens, it would not be fair for them to be fully counted for purposes of representation.
Ultimately, the compromise that was reached involved counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of representation and taxation. This compromise, found in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, allowed the Southern states to have more representatives than if enslaved people were not counted at all, but fewer than if they were fully counted.
Therefore, the correct response in the context of your question is:
"The South would benefit greatly from having a high population for high political power in the House of Representatives."