Editing Three-fifths Compromise (section)

===Confederation Congress===
The three-fifths [[ratio]] originated with an amendment proposed to the [[Articles of Confederation]] on April 18, 1783.<ref>{{Harvnb|Story|1833|page=112}}</ref>{{rp|112}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgtAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA205 |title=American Politics: The American Republic and Its Government|last=Woodburn|first=James Albert|edition=2nd|publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]]|date=1916|page=190}}</ref> The amendment was to have changed the basis for determining the wealth of each state, and hence its tax obligations, from real estate to population, as a measure of ability to produce wealth. The proposal by a committee of the Congress had suggested that taxes "shall be supplied by the several colonies in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age, sex, and quality, except Indians not paying taxes".<ref name="wills">{{cite book |title="Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power |last=Wills |first=Garry |author-link=Garry Wills |date=2003 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |isbn=978-0-618-34398-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZRPxR4hBdoC}}</ref>{{rp|51}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/originandgrowth02taylgoog/page/n183|quote=shall be supplied by the several colonies in proportion to the number of inhabitants of every age.|title=The Origin and Growth of the American Constitution: An Historical Treatise|last=Taylor |first=Hannis|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |date=1911 |page=131 |location=Boston and New York }}</ref> The South immediately objected to this formula since it would include slaves, who were viewed primarily as property, in calculating the amount of taxes to be paid. As [[Thomas Jefferson]] wrote in his notes on the debates, the Southern states would be taxed "according to their numbers and their wealth conjunctly, while the northern would be taxed on numbers only".<ref name="wills"/>{{rp|51–52}}

After proposed compromises of one-half by [[Benjamin Harrison V|Benjamin Harrison]] of [[Virginia]] and three-fourths by several [[New England]]ers failed to gain sufficient support, Congress finally settled on the three-fifths ratio proposed by [[James Madison]].<ref name="wills"/>{{rp|53}} But this amendment ultimately failed, falling two states short of the unanimous approval required to amend the Articles of Confederation ([[New Hampshire]] and [[New York (state)|New York]] opposed it).