What is the primary significance of the Three-Fifths Compromise?

The primary significance of the Three-Fifths Compromise lies in its role in shaping representation in the early United States. Specifically, this compromise allowed states to count enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person when determining a state's population for the purposes of representation in Congress. This compromise was crucial during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as it addressed the contentious debate between northern and southern states regarding how slaves would be counted towards a state's population for legislative representation.

The decision was significant because it gave southern states more representation in the House of Representatives than they would have had if slaves were not counted at all, while simultaneously allowing northern states to limit the political power of slaveholding states by not counting slaves as whole persons. The Three-Fifths Compromise highlighted the complexities and contradictions in American society regarding race and representation and set a precedent for how slavery would be factored into the political framework of the nation.