Essay On The Three Fifths Compromise

In the years prior to the American Civil War, Congress created, passed, and dismissed dozens of compromises to diminish sectional tensions created by opposing slavery beliefs. During April 1861, the compromises created by the United States government began to display their repercussions. These repercussions were caused by the unhappiness created by the compromises and because of the unsatisfying conditions, many Southern states, including states such as Georgia, Florida, and Alabama, seceded from the union and the North was constantly unpleased. These compromises were made to pacify the hunger to expand to new lands and make them slave states. Opposing the pro-slavery South, Northerners either believed in the gradual emancipation of slavery

This was one of the first compromises that had a factor in the start of the Civil War. The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement made that counted the slave population as three-fifths of the white settlers in that area. This compromise was displayed in the Constitution and read, “Three-fifths of the number of slaves in any particular state would be added to the total number of free white persons.” This compromise helped the South gain a majority in the House of Representatives and have a larger impact on the compromises and laws that were passed due to their larger presence. This enraged the North because they believed since the slaves were not given the liberties of a free man the South had no right to count them. The North believed that the slaves should be counted as one, if they were counted, and given the liberties free men were given. Paul Finkelman writes about the feelings of the Northerners, “many Northerners objected to the idea of counting slaves for representation in a nation that was designed to provide liberty for its citizens”. Even with the North voicing their opposition, the South still argued that the slaves should be counted in the census because they were apart of their community. Finkelman also wrote about how “Southerners at the convention [of 1787] insisted that their slaves

This compromise was introduced by Henry Clay as a series of resolutions that would settle disputes throughout the Union about if the lands gained from the Mexican War should be able to have slaves or not. Also, the lands of California were the site of a massive gold rush and had requested to enter the union as a free state, meaning slavery would be illegal here. In Texas, the lands were highly debated due to the inconsistency of where the United States claim ended, the Union said it was the Santa Fe River. Trying to relieve the tensions created during this debate, Henry Clay proposed a compromise. This compromise would admit California as a free state and since this state aided the Northerners cause, the South was promised that no federal prohibitions, regarding slavery, would be placed on the states of Utah and New Mexico. Also, due to Texas losing its boundary claims to New Mexico, Texas was reimbursed with ten million dollars. In On the Brink of Civil War by John C. Waugh, Waugh talks about the Compromise of 1850 and the terms by which it was passed, “California was admitted to the Union as the 16th free state. In exchange, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but the Congress