Final answer:
Delegates from the North believed that slaves should not be fully counted for representation in Congress. The Three-Fifths Compromise resulted in slaves being counted as three-fifths of a person for both purposes of determining representation and taxation, aiming to balance the political power between Northern and Southern states.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding the Three-Fifths Compromise
The delegates from the North at the Constitutional Convention believed that slaves should not be fully counted for the purpose of representation in Congress. In other words, they opposed the idea of counting enslaved individuals on par with free citizens when determining the number of House representatives a state would receive. This stance was based on their argument that representatives from the Southern states could not adequately represent the interests of those who were enslaved.
After considerable debate, the Three-Fifths Compromise was reached, wherein a slave would be counted as three-fifths of a person for both purposes of determining representation and taxation. This compromise was a middle ground between the demands of the Southern delegates, who wanted slaves to be fully counted to increase their political power, and Northern delegates, who wanted slaves to be counted less or not at all to diminish the Southern states' influence in Congress.
The Three-Fifths Compromise significantly impacted the political landscape of the United States at the time, affecting the balance of power between slaveholding and non-slaveholding states. Although it provided a temporary resolution to the contentious issue of slavery, it did not address the underlying ethical and human rights dilemmas associated with the institution of slavery itself. The disagreement highlighted the deep divisions between the North and South that would eventually lead to the Civil War.