Final answer:
The conflict between northern and southern states during the writing of the new constitution primarily centered on the counting of enslaved people in the census, leading to the three-fifths compromise that gave the south more political power without fully recognizing the enslaved population.
Step-by-step explanation:
One of the major conflicts between northern and southern states in the writing of the new constitution centered on how to count enslaved people in the census. This conflict led to the three-fifths compromise which was a key sticking point during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. According to the compromise detailed in Article 1, Section 2, each enslaved person would be counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of both representation in the House of Representatives and taxation. The compromise gave southern slave states more power in Congress without granting full recognition to enslaved individuals.
Furthermore, this agreement played a critical role in the balance of political power between free and slave states. These debates and compromises were fundamental in the fight over the ratification of the new Constitution and were indicative of the divisive issue of slavery, which ultimately led to the Civil War. The Three-Fifths Compromise and the associated issues highlight the complexities and contradictions of the early United States in relation to democracy, the rights of individuals, and the distribution of power between states.