At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise both involved the issue of how 2. states would be represented in the national government. The Great Compromise established two chambers of Congress, one where membership is based on population (the House which favors large states) and one where membership is equal (the Senate which favors small states). The Three-Fifths Compromise set a number to determine the populations of slave states. While slaves could not vote and were not treated as people, but rather property, Southerners still wanted their numbers to count towards the total population (thereby gaining them more of a say in Congress). The number decided upon was 3/5 meaning each slave would count as 3/5 of a person.
