The Electoral College meets in state capitals on December 3, 1800, and Thomas Jefferson defeats incumbent President John Adams 73 to 65 electoral votes, a victory determined entirely by the extra electoral votes slave states receive through the Three-Fifths Compromise. Without the constitutional …
Thomas JeffersonJohn AdamsVirginia slaveholdersElectoral Collegethree-fifths-compromiseelectoral-manipulationslaveryslave-powerinstitutional-corruption
Constitutional Convention delegates finalize the Electoral College system for selecting presidents, resolving months of contentious debate between those favoring congressional selection and those supporting direct popular vote. The compromise creates an indirect election method where each state …
Constitutional Convention delegatesJames MadisonSouthern state delegatesCommittee of Elevenelectoral-collegethree-fifths-compromiseslaveryinstitutional-corruptionconstitutional-design+1 more
Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania delivers a powerful moral condemnation of slavery during Constitutional Convention debates over representation, attacking the Three-Fifths Compromise and challenging southern delegates who profess little willingness to end slavery in their states. Morris declares …
Gouverneur MorrisJames MadisonSouthern state delegatesPennsylvania delegationslaveryconstitutional-conventionmoral-oppositionthree-fifths-compromiseslave-power
Delegates at the Constitutional Convention reach agreement on the Three-Fifths Compromise, proposed by James Wilson of Pennsylvania and seconded by Charles Pinckney of South Carolina, establishing that enslaved people will be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional …
James WilsonCharles PinckneyGouverneur MorrisJames MadisonSouthern state delegates+1 morethree-fifths-compromiseslaveryinstitutional-corruptionelectoral-manipulationconstitutional-design+1 more