Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of PoliticsBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (23) |
Author: onepoorguy 🐝  😊 😞
Number: of 84349 
Subject: Re: Our Founding Fathers Said What?
Date: 12/16/23 5:47 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 2
How would the makeup of Congress been affected had slaves been 5 fifths of a person?

It would have given the Southern states a lot more representatives, and more power. Obviously. Which is exactly what they wanted, and what they proposed. The Northern states didn't want to count them at all because they had no voting rights. It also would have affected their taxes at the time (more people, more tax owed to the feds). Madison ended up proposing the 3/5 compromise that both sides could live with, and detailed his reasoning in Federalists 54 and 55.

(My memory was a little fuzzy on this, so I did look some of this up.)

It is interesting that Madison opposed the African slave trade throughout his life, yet was able to propose that compromise. Today's politicians aren't able to compromise on much of anything, and I would argue that Madison's compromise was far more consequential than (for example) raising taxes on the wealthy.
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to onepoorguy here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 84,309 posts about US Policy. The article-length ones it recommended most:
It's going to get worse · 33 recs · 2025
G’day Donny · 30 recs · 2026
Old Related Story · 28 recs · 2026
HCR is a national treasure · 27 recs · 2025
Fascism in America · 27 recs · 2025
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (23) |


Announcements
US Policy FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of Politics | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community