3/5ths of a Person and 2/5ths of the Bible

The Slave Bible Taught to Glorify Enslavement

You’ve no doubt heard there is a “three-fifths clause in the Constitution of the United States referring to enslaved Black people. The uninformed take that literally, believing the Constitution says that Black persons are worth three-fifths of a white person. Unfortunately, even that would be too kind of a representation. The three-fifths clause was a means to calculate the number of white Congressmen allocated to each state. It gave more power to states with many enslaved people to ensure they had enough votes in the House of Representatives to maintain the practice of slavery. The clause was a concession to Southern states to alleviate the fear the federal government would outlaw enslavement.

“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.”