Because of slavery in the south sometimes the slave population outnumbered the whites due to the amount of slaves plantation owners had and the number of plantations and farms. The Three-fifths compromise said that African American slaves counted for 3/5 of a person, and because representation in the house of representatives is based on population, this allowed states with many slaves to gain more representatives in congress.(don't copy and paste this to your assignment trust me, just make it ur own words)