Free blacks counted the same as free whites for purposes of representation. Even though slaves were property under the laws of the Southern states, the Constitution itself ac- knowledged that they were persons. The Three-fifths Clause addressed how the slave population would be counted for purposes of representation.
Radical Republicans in Congress were opposed to Lincoln as they believed his plan for reconstruction were too lenient towards the South, given the wide swath of destruction that the Civil War had left throughout American society.