What did the Three-Fifths Compromise determine?

• A. It counted three-fifths of enslaved people for representation and taxation.
• B. It counted none for representation.
• C. It prohibited counting enslaved people.
• D. It counted all enslaved people for representation and taxation.

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how the Constitution decided how enslaved people would be counted when counting a state's population for political power and tax purposes. The Three-Fifths Compromise set a specific rule: three-fifths of enslaved people would be counted for both representation in the House of Representatives and for direct taxation. This gave Southern states more influence in Congress than if enslaved people weren’t counted at all, but less than if every enslaved person were counted. That balancing act was a way to resolve the fierce disagreement between free and slaveholding states.

So the best answer is the one that says three-fifths of enslaved people were counted for representation and taxation. The other options aren’t accurate because the compromise did count some enslaved people—not none or all—and it wasn’t an outright prohibition.