Three-fifths clause
The three-fifths compromise (Engl. Three-Fifths Compromise ) was a compromise between the southern and the northern states of the USA , which in 1787 on the Constituent Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia has been reached. It was determined that three out of five of the slaves in the census in the states, both for tax purposes and in the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives , should be counted. This gave the southern states a third more MPs and electors for the election of the president than if slaves were not counted. Their dominance of politics in the interests of the slave owners until the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, however, meant that they had to pay higher taxes.
prehistory
The discussion about the compromise began in 1783 with a proposal for an amendment to the articles of confederation . A congressional committee had suggested that state fortunes should no longer be measured by land ownership for tax purposes but by the number of residents "of all ages, sexes and qualities, except non-taxed Indians." The southern states immediately objected because it included the slaves they considered their property. Thomas Jefferson , who was himself a slave owner, wrote in his notes of the debate that the southern states would be "taxed on their number and wealth combined, while the north would be taxed only on their number."
Compromise proposals to count half or three quarters of the slaves did not find a majority, but James Madison's three-fifths proposal was finally agreed , but ultimately failed due to opposition from New York and New Hampshire .
Constitutional Convention
It was agreed from the start that the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives should be proportional to the number of residents of the states. The debate reverted to whether slaves should be considered residents or property. The slave states wanted slaves to be residents when it came to calculating seat allocation, but if taxes were to be calculated based on the population of a state then the slaves should only be treated as property.
The states in which there was no or almost no more slavery demanded that the slaves should be included in the calculation of the tax levy, but not in the allocation of seats, since they were not allowed to vote.
The compromise then turned out to be the solution to the at the moment muddled debate, but both proponents switched sides: in 1783 the north wanted the slaves to be counted to a greater extent so that the southern states would pay more taxes, and in 1787 the southern states wanted that the slaves are counted to a greater extent, so that they received more members in the House of Representatives and thus could represent the interests of the slave owners.
The clause was proposed by James Wilson and Roger Sherman and incorporated into the US Constitution on September 17, 1787.
“Much has been said about the inappropriateness of representing men who have no will of their own ... They are men but degraded to slavery. They are people who are familiar with the local laws of the states they inhabit and the laws of nature. Representation and taxation go hand in hand, however, and a single rule should apply to both. Would it be fair to impose a unique burden without granting an adequate benefit? "
The corresponding passage is in Article 1, Section 2, Section 3 of the United States Constitution and reads in the original:
"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years , and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons . "
as well as in German translation:
“The mandates of representatives and the direct taxes are divided among the individual states, which are possibly affiliated to this federation, according to their respective number of inhabitants, which is determined by adding to the total number of free persons, including those in a temporary employment relationship, and the non-taxed Indians three fifths of all other people are added. "
The passage is still in the current constitution, as additional articles change the legal position, but never the text of the original constitution.
In the German translation of the American Embassy in Berlin, the expression " bound to service " is euphemistically reproduced as "in a temporary employment relationship". In fact, as the word bound suggests, these were black and white slave laborers, orphans who had to pay off their room and board as children, and also indenture workers who paid off their passage through contract work (indenture).
"Untaxed Indians" were tribes who lived on their own territories and tribesmen who otherwise settled; in the 1870 census, 8 percent of all Indians were taxed. Through military service, marriage to whites and the Dawes Act (1887), Indians could be naturalized. Indians were automatically granted full citizenship in 1924 through the Indian Citizenship Act and have been counted ever since.
After the American Civil War
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of 1865, which brought about the abolition of slavery , was followed by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of 1868, which explicitly enacted the census of all citizens and all male citizens over twenty-one to protect the black population Years ago as long as they hadn't lost it by conviction for a crime.
The restriction mentioned here to "male persons" as voters was later abolished by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1920; the voting age mentioned here of twenty-one years was lowered to eighteen years by the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1971.
literature
- Jürgen Heideking : The constitution before the judge's seat. History and ratification of the American Constitution 1787–1791 . de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1988, ISBN 3-11-011604-9 (also: Tübingen, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 1987).
Individual evidence
- ^ Garry Wills: "Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power . Houghton Mifflin, Boston 2003, ISBN 0-618-34398-9 , pp. 51-52 (English).
- ↑ Jonathan Elliot (ed.): The Debates In The Several State Conventions On The Adoption Of The Federal Constitution, As Recommended By The General Convention At Philadelphia, In 1787 ( en ). Philadelphia: JB Lippincott & Co. Washington: Taylor & Maury, 1866, p. 237 (accessed December 31, 2018).
- ↑ Constitution of the United States of America in German. In: US Diplomatic Mission to Germany, Public Affairs, Information Resource Centers. October 28, 2003, accessed January 1, 2019 .
- ^ National Constitution Center Staff: On this day in 1924: All Indians made United States citizens. In: National Constitution Center. June 2, 2015, accessed December 30, 2018 .