Which of the following was one of the two issues involving slavery in the Constitution? A.) Whether three-fifths of slaves should be free
B.) How slaves would be counted for representation
C.) How to return slaves to Africa
D.) Whether to allow men who were former slaves to vote

Answer:

B.) How slaves would be counted for representation

Explanation:

After much debate, it was agreed that representation in the lower house of Congress would be based on population. The upper house, however, would be composed of two delegates from each state. In that way, the lower house represented the people, and the upper house represented the states. This agreement is known as the Great Compromise. Two things made this compromise great. First, it assured the political power of the small states. Second, it committed the delegates to a new form of government. The Articles of Confederation would be abandoned.

Once the representation problem was resolved, the issue of slavery reared its head. The first debate was over whether slavery would be allowed. Some northern delegates wanted to take the opportunity to abolish slavery altogether. Other northerners and most southern delegates argued that slavery was too large of an issue to be argued there and worried that abolition would have a negative affect on the economy.

The second question was whether slaves should be considered as property or citizens. In this case, southerners believed that slaves should be considered people, and not just property, so they would have more representation in Congress. At that time, about 70 percent of the population in South Carolina was represented by slaves. Some delegates felt that South Carolina, and the rest of the Southern states, would have unfair representation if slaves were counted as population. Northerners, though many were anti-slavery, tried arguing that slaves should be considered only property and not counted as people to be represented.