{"id":2628,"date":"2019-12-24T08:13:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T13:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=2628"},"modified":"2019-12-24T08:13:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T13:13:18","slug":"sleeping-serpents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/12\/24\/sleeping-serpents\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping Serpents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sleeping Serpent<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2013 Article I, Section 2, Constitution of the United States <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late 19th<\/sup> century author John J. Chapman described America\u2019s founding curse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026there was never a moment in our history when slavery was not a sleeping serpent.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathematical Racism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Slavery was enshrined in our founding document, the Constitution.  The Convention used a mathematical \u201csleight of hand,\u201d only two sections after the transcendent language of the Preamble where they described forming \u201c\u2026a more perfect union\u201d.  Through process of elimination, slaves were left as \u201cthree fifths of all other persons\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did those \u201call other persons\u201d count as three fifths?  In 1786, as the Constitution was being written in the hot summer of Philadelphia, the population of the new United States was about 2.8 million.  Of those, 682,000 or about 24% were slaves, with the vast majority of those slaves in the South (Weber<\/a>).  As the debates raged on, the outlines of a democracy emerged.  Population meant votes, and therefore power.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was never a consideration of giving slaves a vote, but the South was unwilling to \u201cgive away\u201d such a large population when it came to deciding how many Representatives they would have in the new Congress. The Southern representatives wanted the slaves counted as \u201cwhole\u201d for population, but as none for taxes.\u00a0\u00a0The North wanted them either counted as whole for both, or neither. So in the same spirit of compromise that gave us a House by population and a Senate by state, slaves were counted as three fifths of a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weighted Votes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That mathematical equation also gave the South enhanced power in the newly created Electoral College.  States would receive votes for the President based on the number of Representatives in the House plus their two guaranteed Senators.  The states of the South, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, were almost 40% slave.  That 40% of non-voters empowered the other 60%, giving more weight to their \u201cfree person\u201d votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Civil War, and the 13th<\/sup>, 14th<\/sup> and 15th<\/sup> Amendments to the Constitution removed the stain of slavery from the Constitution.  But the arguments that supported the three-fifths personhood, that same idea that factors other than the vote of the people should determine how the country is governed, still echo in debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land is Not Power <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We hear them in discussions about the Electoral College.\u00a0\u00a0Last week in the impeachment debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, a Congressman displayed a map of the 2016 election results by County.\u00a0\u00a0It was the \u201cgreat red map\u201d of America, and the Congressman dramatically accused the House of trying to overturn its overwhelming result.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n