[throwaway0a5e]

That's really rich coming from a proponent of federal authority/power.

The alternative here was the articles of confederation or nothing and the states go their own ways as countries, not some fantasy in which the southern states torpedoed their own economies out of some love of the nation.

The constitution and the included 3/5ths compromise most certainly brought about the end of slavery much faster than taking a hard line circa 1790, or anything else that tipped the scales away from the united states forming a national identity would have.

[ceejayoz]

You can say "this was the compromise they had to do" if you like. It's not even a bad argument.

You can't pretend it's not contradictory, though, in a document talking about rights and liberty, and that was the question posed.