Before the 15th amendment went into effect,

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how much was an African American worth in legal terms? I'm trying to Google the answer to this and I'm not finding it. It's quite frustrating since it's something that should be basic high school knowledge. I feel like I learned that a black person used to be worth 1/5 of a white person in terms of voting/owning property/etc. but I can't find anything to explain why I think that way! Can one of you who has a better memory than I for social studies help me out please? A link would be preferred. It irks me to no end that I can't find the answer to this!

Thanks!

[dsc]

1. 3/5

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3. Thanks!

Wow, the Googles really failed on that one... If you don't know the exact fraction, it's almost impossible to come up with the answer!

[Warpy]

4. That 3/5 counted in a state's population

but conferred no civil rights at all upon human chattel. It was the compromise that got the sparsely populated southern states into the Union, states that thought they'd end up being pushed around by city slickers up north if their population figures weren't goosed up by counting people who had no representation.

[ananda]

2. Look up the Three-Fifths Compromise.

nt