Why did the southern states want to count the slaves?

Counting them as part of the population

Explanation:

it would greatly increase the South's political power, but it would also mean paying higher taxes. This was a price the Southern states were willing to pay. They argued in favor of counting slaves.

The Southern States counted slaves because the House of Representatives is based on population. The South at that time was mainly made up of slaves. The more slaves that you had the more representatives you could have.

men and women were able to be citizens, but women did not have all of the rights of men including voting and holding office. slaves could be if they were freed.