The Three Compromises Made In The Constitutional Convention

The state representatives often failed to see the big picture, and think with the nation’s best interests first and foremost. Fortunately compromise was found and Roger Sherman brought together the Connecticut Compromise, which focused on settling the large and small state dispute. Only after three fifths and trade compromises could be agreed upon over the major arguments was the constitution made a viable option, and then

When making a national government, two plans were proposed, the New Jersey plan and the Virginia plan. The new Jersey plan proposed to have three branches (legislative, judicial, and executive), but the legislative branch would be elected by each state, regarding size. The judicial branch would be appointed by the executive branch, who would be appointed by the legislature. These factors are made considering New Jerseys size. At this time period, many states thought that that size and population meant a lot towards the national government.

The Virginia Plan was a huge part in forming the constitution we have today. Without it, we may not even have our government. Many others did not like the Virginia Plan because it would provide a too weak of a government. The Virginia Plan was brought in to the convention to revise and edit to form the basis of our government. It stated that there would be three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

There would still be a bicameral legislature in congress, but instead the upper house, the House of Representatives, be provided proportional representation with every thirty thousand peoples equaling up to one representative. This suggestion was adopted from the Virginia plan, which pleased the large states. In the lower house, the Senate, the compromise was two representatives per state, despite population. This equal representation reflected the New Jersey plan, which pleased the smaller states. The Great Compromise fulfilled some of the requests from both proposed plans and was accepted

The Great Compromise was Roger Sherman’s plan, and was an attempt to resolve the conflicts between the smaller states and larger states, settling the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral

On 1787, a constitutional convention was held in Philadelphia state house, where three proposal were suggested: the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Connecticut Compromise. The Virginia Plan intention was to establish a Congress with numerical representation and a more robust national government; however, this proposition led into an opposed proposal called The New Jersey plan. The New Jersey plan was made to make modification to the Articles of Confederation but more importantly, the plan is to make clear of whom has the power of what states. Two delegates from Connecticut were joined together to acquire the image only by the states in senate and numbers in the House, calling it the Connecticut Compromise. As all the Plans I previously mentioned, I will go on depth on how the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Connecticut Compromise shape America today.

During the constitutional convention one of the first heated disagreements was between large states and the people who represented the small states. Delegates from Virginia wanted two houses to contain a biameral legislative. Based on the state's population is the number of representatives given to each state. According to page 45, “ In each state representatives in the lower house would be elected by popular vote.” Once representatives are elected by popular vote, than those representatives would be selected.

After the countless debates, the Great Compromise was what the convention would come into agreement with representation by population in the House of Representatives “The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative. ”(add footnote) The smaller states were pleased with equal representation in the Senate “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senates from each state and each Senator shall have one vote.”(add

Furthermore, the Great Compromise was latter decided in which based their elements in the importance of separation of powers in which the people were represented by the House of Representatives while the state legislatures

Others wanted monarchy, some who were even entirely against a national authority. During the Constitutional Convention, there were many proposals for the government. One of the proposals was the Virginia Plan by Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia. This proposal called for three divisions for a strong national government.

The Virginia Plan desired a strong national government with three

Also known as the Large State Plan, the Virginia Plan divided up the powers of the federal government into three branches; a legislative branch that would make the law, an executive branch that would enforce the laws made and a judicial branch that would interpret the laws. This plan also included a chief executive to lead serving terms selected by the legislature, and made voting based on population. On the other side of things, William Patterson authored the New Jersey Plan, also known as the Small State Plan, where there would be a single house legislature having

State representation at the national level was a challenge for early government; some states supported New Jersey’s plan for representation, calling for each state's population to be represented equally, while others supported the Virginia Plan which stated that the population should determine the amount of representation each state should have. This dispute was solved by the Great Compromise, dividing congress into two houses: the house and the senate. The House reflected the Virginia Plan, allowing states to be represented accordingly with their population. In contrast, the Senate called for two representatives of each state regardless of that state’s population. With this compromise, no legislation could pass without the approval of both the house and the senate, giving them equal power.

There were many important Compromises between the years of 1820 and 1860, some that worked completely and some that didn’t. In the early nineteenth century, people were good at compromising and making things work for everyone. How long did perfect compromising actually last? Slavery began to split the nation apart, causing compromising to become hard to do.

This compromise helped give each state equal say in the government. As John Samples said to the Cato Institute in In Defense of the Electoral College, “ … the Electoral College makes sure that the states count in presidential elections… an important part of our federalist system - a system worth preserving… federalism is central to our grand constitutional effort to restrain power.” (Doc C). Since this nation is founded on federalism (the sharing of power between national and state governments), it only makes sense that each individual state would want equal say in the nation’s government. Samples knew that to keep the government running smoothly, each state needed equal representation in the government, thus the Electoral College.