debate, two branches of Congress were determined upon, in one of which
membership and voting should be proportionate. Franklin then proposed
as a compromise that in one branch all bills for revenue should
originate and in the other branch the States should have equal vote.
This adjustment between the large and small States was considered the
grand compromise, and its acceptance was a matter for common rejoicing.

The solution of this problem immediately raised another. What was meant
by "population," which had been substituted for wealth as a basis of
apportioning delegates in the popular branch? Did it include slaves?
The Continental Congress had long been accustomed in assessing the
expenses of the war to add to the quotas of the States a sum equal to
three-fifths of the number of slaves in each, on the ground that the
labour of five slaves was equivalent to that of three free men. This
proportion was now taken both for determining representatives in
Congress and for assessing direct taxes. The States which continued
to hold slaves would consequently have the benefits of three-fifths
of their slaves represented by additional congressmen; but they must
bear three-fifths additional of a direct tax, whenever one might be
levied by the National Government.

The questionable value of slave labour had already divided the Southern
States into two economic classes. Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia,
because of the exhausting effects of tobacco upon the soil, had
attempted to restrict its cultivation by forbidding more slaves to be
brought in. The two Carolinas and Georgia, requiring fresh slave labour
for their rice and indigo fields, would not consent to any diminution
of the supply. A compromise was at last effected in the convention
which permitted the importation of new slaves into the United States
for the coming twenty years. This was done by the votes of the New