The Great Compromise: Constitutional Convention In 1787

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

The Great Compromise is a faction of the Constitutional Convention .It is also known as the Connecticut Compromise and was developed to ensure that all states would be represented equally in congress. Larger states favored the Virginia Plan which allowed states with a bigger population to have more representatives. Smaller states that preferred New Jersey Plan argued that each state should have the same amount of representatives sent to congress. These two plans were created because the states couldn’t agree on what type of legislatures to have and two prevent one house from having more power than the other .These plans failed which in resulted in the birth of The Great Compromise.

The authors of the Constitution created a balance between federal and state government by creating federalism or a division of powers with checks and balances while maintaining the separation of powers. That being said, the Virginia Plan of having every state hold a two-house legislature was debated against the New Jersey Plan that entailed a single house Congress (Foner, 2014). The end result was a two-house Congress in which each state could then have two senate members that are required to serve for one term of six years and a House of Representatives in which member were elected directly by the people every two years. This system made sure that each population was represented equally despite one state being larger than the other (Foner,

The Constitutional Convention is where the Great Compromise is being settled. What is the Great Compromise? The Great Compromise is an agreement that large and small states reached

When talking about representation both the north and the south had views on what they wanted from slaves. The smaller states and slave states wanted slaves to be represented and counted in population. While the larger states and free states didn’t think that slaves should be counted as population because they were a form of property, but they wanted slaves to be counted so they could be taxed. The smaller states wanted equal representation and north wanted to be represented by population. With the argument they came to with the great compromise, which would please small states by

The Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison favored the larger states for a two-house Congress to be based on each state’s population. This, of course, was argued about because small states felt as if they would not have enough voice. In disapproval to the Virginia Plan came the New Jersey Plan. This plan argued for a one house Congress, with equal representation. This meant that each state would have the same number of members.

The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States. The Constitutional Convention was a meeting held in Philadelphia between May and September of 1787. Delegates from a portion of the original thirteen colonies of the United States came to fix the problems of America’s weak central government. There were many important people involved, compromises, and agreements made during the making of the constitution.

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

While debating how to set up representation in Congress, the large states wanted Congress representation to be based on population, so they would have more say in the government. The small states wanted each state to have only 2 people represent, so everyone would have an equal say. Together they decided that they would have two houses in congress, called the house of representative and the senate. The house of representatives is based on the states population(Source D), appeasing the large states. The senate had 2 representatives, (Source D).The small state-large state compromise protects against tyranny because it ensures that the large states do not take away power from the small states when it comes to making laws.

“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.

The plan proposed by Virginia otherwise known as the “large-state plan.” Which proposed “a bicameral legislature, in which the lower house would be elected proportionately and the upper house would be selected from a list of nominees sent from the state legislatures on the basis of equal representation for the states. ”(add footnote) As the smaller states feared that this plan would lose a voice in the federal government if they continued with the Virginia plan, they opposed this plan and came up with one for themselves which would be known as the “small-state plan.” The small-state plan would propose “a unicameral Congress, with equal representation for each state, with all the powers of the Confederation Congress.

Obviously, smaller states were not pleased with that plan. They thought that larger states could easily overrule them in congress. So William Paterson created a plan called the New Jersey Plan. It as well had the same three branches but, the plan provided legislators to have only one house. Each state would only one vote in the legislator, regardless of the population.

It was time for a compromise. Mr. Washington took charge and grouped together all of our previous suggestions into 2; All Houses Have an Equal Amount of Representatives per State, and All Houses Have State Representatives Based off of Population. The two were shortened to “equal all” and “pop all”. In addition to equal and pop all there was the Butler compromise; one of the large houses have representatives based off of population, the other has 2 representatives per state, and the small house has representatives based off of capital. Personally I don 't think this makes sense at all, the smaller houses would be constantly changing as the economy fluctuates.

When the Great Compromise was drafted and reached at the constitutional convention of 1787 it was did make sense to allow each state, regardless of population, to have to have an equal number of senators, as this allowed each state to have a voice within the Senate. It also made sense for purpose of legislature that the number of delegates from each state within the House of Representatives was based on each state’s population as it allowed for a semi true representation of the populations within all states. The representation was only semi true as the states only counted select portions of the people within the state, omitting women, Native Americans and only counting 3/5ths of the slave population. As to whether this same calculation is fair for Electoral College purposes, I do not believe that it is.

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.