 Another contentious slavery @-@ related question was whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation of the states in the Congress , or would instead be considered property and as such not be considered for purposes of representation . Delegates from states with a large population of slaves argued that slaves should be considered persons in determining representation , but as property if the new government were to levy taxes on the states on the basis of population . Delegates from states where slavery had become rare argued that slaves should be included in taxation , but not in determining representation . 
