The delegates from the southern states insisted that slaves were property, like horses and sheep, and therefore should not be counted as Inhabitants. Franklin countered this claim with an edgy joke, observing that slaves, the last time he looked, did not behave like sheep: Sheep will never make any insurrections.
The southern delegates argued that slaves should be considered property rather than inhabitants, similar to livestock, to affect representation. This stance was a strategic move to gain more power without acknowledging the humanity of enslaved individuals.
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!
