What is the three fifths rule?

Answer 1

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a provision in the United States Constitution, established in 1787, that determined how slaves would be counted for congressional representation and taxation purposes. It stipulated that each enslaved individual would be counted as three-fifths of a person. This compromise was intended to balance the interests of slaveholding states and non-slaveholding states in the apportionment of representatives in Congress. It reflected the contentious nature of slavery in American politics and was eventually rendered obsolete by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery.