What "other property" was considered for representation at the Constitutional Convention?
score:3
I traced down the particular edit which added the phrasing, but couldn't find an explanation. This is a Wikipedia edit, not an authoritative source, so I wouldn't put too much thought into it.
... so let's put too much thought into it. It turns out it leads to some interesting background on the Three-Fifths Compromise.
It could be a reference to a similar debate over the status of slaves proposed as Article XI to the Articles of Confederation. Only this time the issue was determining wealth for the purposes of taxation. There was an idea put forward that states should contribute to a common national treasury according to their ability to pay, and that this ability to pay would be determined by their population.
...all charges of war and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defense, or general welfare, and allowed by the United States assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which 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...
Samuel Chase of Maryland (a slave state) made the point that since this is a surrogate for determining the ability of a state to pay taxes, only the white inhabitants should be counted since they controlled most of the wealth. Slaves were considered property and "cannot be distinguished from the lands or personalities held in those states where there are a few slaves." He's saying that if you count both white and slaves as a surrogate for determining tax burden, they'll be overtaxed.
Not surprisingly, free states did not like this plan. John Adams, representing Massachusetts, countered that since this article is for the purpose of determining wealth, not representation, then a southern slave laboring in the south contributed as much as the laboring poor of the north. James Wilson of Pennsylvania put it bluntly.
...if this amendment should take place, the Southern colonies would have all the benefit of slaves, whilst the Northern ones would bear the burden. That slaves increase the profits of a state, which the Southern States mean to take to themselves; that they also increase the burden of defense, which would of course fall so much the heavier on the Northern; that slaves occupy the places of freemen and eat their food. Dismiss your slaves, and freemen will take their places.
John Witherspoon of New Jersey had this to say...
...the value of lands and houses was the best estimate of the wealth of a nation, and that it was practicable to obtain such a valuation... It has been objected that negroes eat the food of freemen, and therefore should be taxed; horses also eat the food of freemen, therefore they should be taxed.
There's your "slaves or other property".
The amendment was defeated in a partisan vote, 7 northern for, 5 southern against, with Georgia abstaining. It's particularly interesting to note that the sides would be reversed when the question was raised in the Constitutional Convention, but this time about representation.
Source: "The Growth and Origin of the American Constitution: An Historical Treatise" by Hannis Taylor, 1909, page 131.
More post
- 📝 What does the first Versal in Book of Kells refer to?
- 📝 How did the Japanese populace view the emperor during the Edo Period?
- 📝 When and why did war chariots stop being used?
- 📝 At which point in time did the majority of German population become aware of the Holocaust?
- 📝 What is the anomaly in drawing of the Great Pyramid by National Geographic?
- 📝 What was the relative social status of a "grazier" in Victorian England?
- 📝 Is There A Term For The Old Maps That Had Lines Connecting Pin-Wheels?
- 📝 Would modern aerodynamic design be recognizable to a vehicle expert 100 years ago?
- 📝 Attempts to return the War to the South's favor after Gettysburg?
- 📝 Where did France build up its fleet in 1805-1814?
- 📝 How did messages get back and forth between ship and shore during the Battle of Cherbourg?
- 📝 Why do land mines seem to be a more serious problem in the Balkans than the Alps?
- 📝 How did people react to Cavendish bananas when they first replaced the Gros Michel strain?
- 📝 What does a "wage" mean in the time of 'The Odyssey'?
- 📝 How were/are days subdivided in non-Gregorian calendars?
- 📝 In the United States government, has there been cases that electoral colleges don't vote for the candidate the majority of their state voted for?
- 📝 Why was Europe so technologically and culturally advanced?
- 📝 What authority did the Catholic Church have over European monarchs from 900–1450?
- 📝 Why didn't the Franklin expedition seek assistance from the Inuit?
- 📝 Could there have been wars between the Aztecs and the Persians?
- 📝 Were any Kings/Queens who were monarchs as children good rulers?
- 📝 Was Fascism capitalist or communist or as many say, was it a "third type" of ideology?
- 📝 How was Canadian sovereignty in the arctic threatened in the 1950s?
- 📝 Did marriage ever end a war?
- 📝 What is the history behind this English village well?
- 📝 Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
- 📝 Baldwin IV, the Leper King
- 📝 Was there any imperial nation whose home country was conquered but was able to retain its colonies?
- 📝 What's so special about the Aerodrome?
- 📝 Were there any German operations to destroy supply routes in the Persian corridor in WWII?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What "other property" was considered for representation at the Constitutional Convention?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 What was the planned line of succession for the Nazi Party in the event that Hitler died?
- 📝 What was the 1970s name for skinny jeans?
- 📝 What was it like for a coastal village to experience a Viking raid in around the tenth century?
- 📝 What was the original process for becoming a US citizen?
- 📝 What was the motivation for the Gregorian Calendar?
- 📝 From 1936-45 what was the prescribed punishment in Nazi Germany for failing to join or participate in the Hitler Youth?
- 📝 What was the impetus for some African nations to participate in the slave trade?
- 📝 What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Ottoman empire to adopt the crescent moon as its flag/coat of arms?
- 📝 What alternative locations were considered for the United Nations?
- 📝 What was the basis for valuating large territorial purchases by USA?
- 📝 What was the actual cause of the disaster for the Royal Navy’s battlecruisers in the Battle of Jutland?
- 📝 What was the penalty for disobeying flu safety regulations in the 1918 epidemic?
- 📝 What was the primary motivation for a historical figure like Xenophon to create an extensive collection of written material?
- 📝 What was the congressional level of support for Emancipation Proclamation?
- 📝 What was the timetable for Germany's Invasion of the Low Countries (Fall Gelb) in WW2?
- 📝 What was the reason for inflation in Britain after the Black Death?
- 📝 What was the argument for the Japanese pursuing the Northern Expansion Doctrine during WWII?
- 📝 What was the ancient Egyptian word for "soldier"?
- 📝 What was the first recorded instance of sex or violence being inappropriate for children to see?
- 📝 What was the purpose for Kaiser Wilhelm's visit to Jerusalem?
- 📝 What kind of wood was the standard decking for aircraft carriers in World War 2?
- 📝 What was the typical range of travel of a Pennsylvanian resident for everyday life in the late 18th early 19th Century Pennsylvania?
- 📝 What was the median price for a slave child in the Augustan Rome?