The Three-Fifths Compromise

A) determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation.
B) determined the ratio between free states and slave states.
C) declared that the states would pay three-fifths of the Revolutionary War debt and the federal government would pay the rest.
D) determined that all American citizens would pay three-fifths of their incomes to the federal government in taxes every year.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a agreement made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in which it was decided that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives and for determining each state's total number of electoral votes. This compromise increased the political power of Southern slave states, as they were able to count a portion of their enslaved population towards their representation in the government, even though these individuals did not have the right to vote or any other rights under the law.