Tennessee Lawmaker Bizarrely Defends Three-Fifths Compromise As ‘Ending Slavery’

Republican state lawmaker Justin Lafferty made a false claim about the three-fifths compromise, a pro-slavery compromise that counted slaves as 3/5 of a person during the drafting of the Constitution, during a speech he made on the Tennessee House floor.

Slaves did not have the right to vote. The compromise did nothing to end slavery…it was about taxation and state representation in Washington D.C.

The Three-fifths Compromise was a compromise reached among state delegates during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention due to disputes over how enslaved people would be counted when determining a state’s total population. This number would determine a state’s number of seats in the House of Representatives and how much it would pay in taxes.

CNN Video

Who will be Trump' running mate?