A Tennessee Republican lawmaker wrongly suggested on Tuesday that the infamous three-fifths compromise was an effort by Northern states to curtail the power of Southern slave-owning states with the ultimate aim of ending slavery, when in fact historians say it was the opposite, a dehumanizing concession that had the impact of giving more power to slave-owning states.
A Tennessee Republican lawmaker wrongly suggested on Tuesday that the infamous three-fifths compromise was an effort by Northern states to curtail the power of Southern slave-owning states with the ultimate aim of ending slavery, when in fact historians say it was the opposite, a dehumanizing concession that had the impact of giving more power to slave-owning states.
