Three-Fifths Compromise
In 1787, the US constitutional convention looked at the problem of counting its population. The population of a state determines the influence a state can take in a presidential election. The convention also looked at the problem of counting slaves: If they were counted, the state would have more power in the election, the taxes the state would have to pay to the government would also be higher. The Three-Fifths Compromise was that three out of every five slaves would be counted, in other words, black slaves were counted as three fifths of a human being. The compromise of counting "all other persons" as only three-fifths of their actual numbers reduced the representation of the slave states relative to the original proposals, but improved it over the Northern position. An inducement for slave states to accept the Compromise was its tie to taxation in the same ratio, so that the burden of taxation on the slave states was also reduced.