Compromise at the Convention
8th Grade Informational Reading Texts
One of the first plans suggested at the convention was the Virginia Plan written by none other than James Madison. The proposed plan set up a strong central government with three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative branch would be broken into two houses and the number of representatives in each state would be based on the state's population. The greater the population, the more votes a state would have and the larger states at this time, like Virginia, favored this plan, particularly because they had not held this advantage under the Articles of Confederation.
The smaller states were not happy with the Virginia Plan and came back with their own proposal: the New Jersey Plan, created by William Paterson. This plan called for a one-house legislature. Representation would be equal for each state so no one state could become too powerful. This was similar to the structure created by the Articles of Confederation. This plan, like the Virginia Plan, also called for three branches of government as most Framers agreed that the separation of power of the new government was essential.
Neither group was happy about the other plan but knew they needed to compromise to keep the convention moving. The Great Compromise otherwise known as the Connecticut Compromise was put together by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth and passed by only one vote. According to this plan, the House of Representatives would be based on population (the Virginia Plan) and the Senate would be equal representation (the New Jersey Plan). Both sides were satisfied to have part of what they wanted in the new plan.
As the convention continued, the debate over slavery raised even more questions and arguments than the issue of representation. There were two very different viewpoints about how slaves should be counted for representation and taxes. The south wanted slaves to count towards representation but did not want to give them any rights or be taxed on them. The north felt that the south could not have it both ways--if slaves were to be counted as part of the population, rights should be granted; if they were not to be counted and instead viewed as property, rights would not have to be granted. As far as the majority of the people in the north were concerned, slaves should be taxed as property because they had not been granted rights such as those for free white men.
The idea of counting the slaves as 3/5ths of a person has roots back to the Articles of Confederation. James Madison proposed the idea. The founding father compromised to count 3/5th of the state's slaves toward population. Population was used for representation, electoral votes and the amount of taxes that each state would pay.
The founding fathers were very careful about both the words they used in the Constitution as well as the words they did not. For example, the word "slave" does not appear in any part of the original Constitution. Some historians argue that the omission of the word "slave" was because almost half of the founding fathers were slave owners even though many of the members of the convention had moral issues against slavery. As the Constitutional Convention continued to take place it became clear to its participants that if compromises were not made on the issue of slavery, the south would threaten not to sign the Constitution once the document had been completed.
The compromise came between the southern states and the northern states. If the Northern states would allow the Atlantic Slave trade to continue for 20 more years (ending in 1808); then the Southern states would stop adding shipping laws that hurt the North. Part of the compromise reached included agreement by framers from the southern states that shipping laws intent on punishing the North would cease. Around the same time, fugitive slave laws were the source of great disagreement as well. Under the fugitive slave laws people were required to return a runaway slave to their owner.
Many people wonder why slavery wasn't ended during this time of compromise and creation. They pondered how the Framers could build a nation on a statement like "all men are created equal." Pushing aside the issue of slavery was a difficult choice for the founding fathers, but they hoped that one day the country would be stronger and more ready to deal with such a tough issue.
Electing the President was a big deal for the founding fathers. They were hesitant to make the President too powerful like King George III had been. On the other hand, the President also had to have some power. Many believed a President should be the head of the country and should not be chosen by the members of Congress, state legislatures or voted on by the people. The system that was decided upon is what became known as the Electoral College.
The smaller states were not happy with the Virginia Plan and came back with their own proposal: the New Jersey Plan, created by William Paterson. This plan called for a one-house legislature. Representation would be equal for each state so no one state could become too powerful. This was similar to the structure created by the Articles of Confederation. This plan, like the Virginia Plan, also called for three branches of government as most Framers agreed that the separation of power of the new government was essential.
Neither group was happy about the other plan but knew they needed to compromise to keep the convention moving. The Great Compromise otherwise known as the Connecticut Compromise was put together by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth and passed by only one vote. According to this plan, the House of Representatives would be based on population (the Virginia Plan) and the Senate would be equal representation (the New Jersey Plan). Both sides were satisfied to have part of what they wanted in the new plan.
As the convention continued, the debate over slavery raised even more questions and arguments than the issue of representation. There were two very different viewpoints about how slaves should be counted for representation and taxes. The south wanted slaves to count towards representation but did not want to give them any rights or be taxed on them. The north felt that the south could not have it both ways--if slaves were to be counted as part of the population, rights should be granted; if they were not to be counted and instead viewed as property, rights would not have to be granted. As far as the majority of the people in the north were concerned, slaves should be taxed as property because they had not been granted rights such as those for free white men.
The idea of counting the slaves as 3/5ths of a person has roots back to the Articles of Confederation. James Madison proposed the idea. The founding father compromised to count 3/5th of the state's slaves toward population. Population was used for representation, electoral votes and the amount of taxes that each state would pay.
The founding fathers were very careful about both the words they used in the Constitution as well as the words they did not. For example, the word "slave" does not appear in any part of the original Constitution. Some historians argue that the omission of the word "slave" was because almost half of the founding fathers were slave owners even though many of the members of the convention had moral issues against slavery. As the Constitutional Convention continued to take place it became clear to its participants that if compromises were not made on the issue of slavery, the south would threaten not to sign the Constitution once the document had been completed.
The compromise came between the southern states and the northern states. If the Northern states would allow the Atlantic Slave trade to continue for 20 more years (ending in 1808); then the Southern states would stop adding shipping laws that hurt the North. Part of the compromise reached included agreement by framers from the southern states that shipping laws intent on punishing the North would cease. Around the same time, fugitive slave laws were the source of great disagreement as well. Under the fugitive slave laws people were required to return a runaway slave to their owner.
Many people wonder why slavery wasn't ended during this time of compromise and creation. They pondered how the Framers could build a nation on a statement like "all men are created equal." Pushing aside the issue of slavery was a difficult choice for the founding fathers, but they hoped that one day the country would be stronger and more ready to deal with such a tough issue.
Electing the President was a big deal for the founding fathers. They were hesitant to make the President too powerful like King George III had been. On the other hand, the President also had to have some power. Many believed a President should be the head of the country and should not be chosen by the members of Congress, state legislatures or voted on by the people. The system that was decided upon is what became known as the Electoral College.