DBQ History Essay

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plan would keep the small states from being "swallowed up" by more populous neighbors. The delegates from the large states were biased towards the Virginia Plan, but the smaller states wanted equality. In addition to the idea of this so-called "equality," slavery was not uncommon. Because the southerners wanted as many representatives in the House as possible, they argued that slaves should be counted the same as other people, except they won't have any rights as a citizen. On the other hand, delegates from the North challenged the idea. Were slaves to be considered people with a right to represent Congress? Or were they property? Most northerners agreed that slaves should be counted only as property like a trained animal obeying its rightful owner. To stop all the madness, James Madison proposed a compromise called the "Three-Fifths Compromise." With this compromise accepted, slaves were to be counted as half-slave and half-free. Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania once said, "If ...

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