Extemporaneous musings, occasionally poetic, about life in its richly varied dimensions, especially as relates to history, theology, law, literature, science, by one who is an attorney, ordained minister, historian, writer, and African American.
Monday, May 14, 2018
GERRYMANDERED FROM JUMP STREET
OUR NATION IS GERRYMANDERED FROM JUMP STREET BY 3/5'S
The 3/5s clause of the United States Constitution was a product of national white consensus. It was forged in the convention of 1787.
Thus, Article 1 sec. 2's 3/5s clause was promulgated and later ratified in order to unify the diverse economic interests in and among the colonies, North and South.
The 3/5s clause followed in time the "Declaration of Independence," in 1776, the "American War of Independence;" 1776-1781. The critical clause also followed the "Articles of Confederation," 1781-1787, the first national governing document, that failed to enable effective governance due to decentralization.
The 3/5s clause was ratified in 1789. It applied throughout the country, as the binding, bonding, fetter and feature of American law until after 1865.
http://www.blackpast.org/aah/three-fifths-clause-united-states-constitution-1787
"The 3/5s clause" added the 3/5s of the total number of slaves (and 'free' Negroes), i.e., "others," within a state to the total number of white persons, in that state, whether any whites were bond or free, but not Indians, in order to determine the number of representatives from that state to Congress. Thus, no political distinction existed between the slave and free status of Africans as a matter of law. Both were counted as part of the whole number that was later reduced by 3/5s, not individually. That state's fractional whole number was added and subordinated to all whites, yet essential to the integrity of the nation by a 3/5s fraction. Gerrymandered from jump street was American government!
This 3/5s quota system is an American algebraic original. It was forged by national political necessity ( the "military necessity" phrase came with President Abraham Lincoln's epochal 1863 "Emancipation Proclamation") for the United States of America's political and economic integrity. Its vital importance is shown by its appearance in Article 1, section 2 of the Constitution. We now-African Americans "citizens" were foremost factors in forging the nation's economic and political future by our mere placement at the beginning of the Constitution!