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The constitutional text

Article I · Section 2

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

[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.]* The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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202 elements · 219 connections · One constitutional systemOpen the reader
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Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 — original apportionment

Representation and the slavery bargain

mixed provision
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.]*

What it means

The original formula counted free persons fully, excluded the category described as Indians not taxed, and counted enslaved people at three-fifths for apportionment. It governed the distribution of House seats and direct taxes among states, not fractions of an individual ballot.

Historical setting

The formula was part of the founding accommodation of slavery. Counting enslaved people increased slaveholding states’ representation even though those people were denied the political freedom to control that representation.

What it does

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and the Fourteenth Amendment replaced the original apportionment formula. The historical clause therefore remains necessary to understand the founding structure, but its three-fifths rule is not the present formula.

Debate & interpretation

The bargain combined incentives that pointed in opposite directions: more counted population meant more representatives but a larger share of direct taxes. Its mechanics do not excuse its injustice or eliminate its contribution to slaveholders’ political power.

A common misreading

Three-fifths was not a declaration that enslaved people had three-fifths of a vote; they were denied voting rights while others benefited from counting them.

Think it through

Who gained political influence when a population was counted for representation but prevented from choosing its representatives?

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Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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