OppressionSeptember 17, 1787

The Constitution and the Three-Fifths Clause

The Constitution counts the enslaved as three-fifths of a person and protects the slave trade.

Resources

Authoritative explainer of the clause that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person to boost their enslavers' political power.

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

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Chattel Slavery
Embedded human-as-property in the Constitution via the Three-Fifths and Fugitive Slave clauses.

Embedded human-as-property in the Constitution via the Three-Fifths and Fugitive Slave clauses.