Three-fifths Clause  -  During the framing of the Constitution, Southern delegates argued that slaves should count toward representative seats, while the delegates of northern states, most of which had or would soon abolish slavery, argued that to count slaves as members of the population would grant an unfair advantage to the southern states. The result of this debate was the adoption of the Three-fifths Clause, which allowed three-fifths of all slaves to be counted as people.