Tennessee Lawmaker Defends Three-Fifths Compromise

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Lafferty (R) argued on the floor that the Three-Fifths Compromise was about “ending slavery.”

Said Lafferty: “We ended up biting a bitter, bitter pill that haunts us today. And we did it to lay the foundation for all this that we enjoy in this country.”

He added: “The Three-Fifths Compromise was a direct effort to ensure that southern states never got the population necessary to continue the practice of slavery everywhere else in the country.”