Indiana’s Christian nationalist Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith took to social media last week to make the stunning declaration that the Three Fifths Compromise—a deal made by the framers of the Constitution that gave southern states greater power by counting three-fifths of each enslaved person when determining representation in Congress —a “great thing.” Beckwith’s remarks came after members of the state’s Black Caucus cited the compromise during debate over legislation to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in schools, state government, and health profession licensing.
Beckwith claimed that the compromise was “designed to make sure that justice was equal for all people and equality really meant equality for all.” That assertion has generated well-deserved backlash. Indiana University history professor Alex Lichtenstein spoke to the Indiana Capitol Chronicle:
“The intention of the compromise was, quite frankly, to sell out Black people. That is to lock them into slavery for longer term in the interest of creating the union,” Lichtenstein said. “The argument that the Three-Fifths Compromise was actually passed with the intention of destroying or undermining slavery is just, frankly, laughable.”
State Rep. Earl Harris was among those who schooled Beckwith. From the Chicago Tribune:
“To argue that the Three-Fifths Compromise was the North’s attempt at playing ‘the long game’ to undermine the South is not just a gross misunderstanding of history, it’s a purposeful whitewashing of it for political gain and media attention,” Harris said. “To this day, the ghost of the Three-Fifths Compromise still haunts Black Americans. From restrictions on voting rights to implicit bias in health care to an unjust justice system, too many people in power still view Black Americans as ‘less-than.’”
If you’re thinking that Beckwith’s rewriting and whitewashing of U.S. history sounds like religious-right pseudo-historian David Barton and his Christian nationalist retelling of the founding era, you’re right. Notes the Capitol Chronicle,
Beckwith’s take on the compromise’s history appear to echo interpretations by David Barton, an author and political activist revered in evangelical circles for promoting the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. His interpretations of U.S. history have been met with significant criticism from many historians and scholars, however, who argue that Barton’s work contains inaccuracies and misrepresentations and proliferates the spread of “pseudo-history.”
In a later social media post, Beckwith linked to a Barton interview with Glenn Beck to buttress his argument, apparently not knowing or caring that Barton’s claims about the nation’s founding are often false. Barton’s own publisher pulled his book about Thomas Jefferson off the shelves when actual historians pointed out its errors. This isn’t the first time Beckwith has promoted bogus Christian nationalist claims peddled by Barton and his acolytes.
Not content with rewriting history, Beckwith suggested that legislators who portrayed the Three-Fifths Compromise as “some sort of terrible thing” and “a scourge on Black people” were miseducated. “We got to this place because of DEI in education. We got to this place because you have professors at woke schools who will not teach the history of what actually happened in the foundations of our nation.”
Beckwith is a Christian nationalist pastor and podcaster who claims a “prophetic calling.” He won an upset victory at the 2024 Indiana Republican convention thanks in part to the 40 delegates from his church. In the fall, Beckwith portrayed the state’s 2024 election as a choice between “godly boldness” and “the Jezebel spirit.”
In March, Beckwith declared that “President Trump has been raised up by the Lord” to be “our generation’s version of General George Patton.”
