actually, it is the 14th Amendment, not the 15th where this issue arises.

Paul Finkelman

James Hershman wrote:

> Jon Kukla is right about the origins of the 3/5 number in the
> Confederation period. The story is spelled out in detail in Don
> Fehrenbacher's _The Slaveholding Republic_. Interesting echoes of the
> 3/5 compromise persist in the 15th Amendment, in the provision allowing
> for the reduction of a state's representation based upon the proportion
> of its citizens denied the franchise. So you could deny the vote, but
> you had to pay the full price. Some Northern Republicans threatened to
> apply in the 1890s when the South began disenfranchising
> African-Americans but never brought it to bear.
>
> Jim Hershman
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Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Tulsa College of Law
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