Malcolm Rivera
The United States Constitution was created through a series of compromises among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The delegates, representing 12 of the 13 original states, met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, which had been the governing document of the United States since the American Revolution. The Constitution is sometimes referred to as a bundle of compromises due to the numerous concessions made by delegates to create a government charter acceptable to each of the 13 states. These compromises included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which addressed how slaves would be counted to determine congressional representation, the Great Compromise, which established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate, and the Commerce Compromise, which focused on how the new federal government should regulate business.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Compromises made | Three-Fifths Compromise, Great Compromise, Commerce Compromise |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | Enslaved people counted as three-fifths of a free person for congressional representation |
| Great Compromise | Established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate |
| Commerce Compromise | Congress could control domestic and international trade but not the slave trade for at least 20 years |
| Selection of the president | Electoral College |
| State representation | Equal representation for each state in the Senate, representation based on population in the House of Representatives |
| Federal powers | Federal government could pass supreme law, raise taxes, regulate commerce, and restrict state actions |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The Northern states, where the economy did not rely heavily on the enslavement of African people, wanted to bring an end to the importation and sale of enslaved individuals. They did not want to count enslaved people toward representation because counting them would provide the South with a greater number of representatives. They also wanted to impose import tariffs on finished products to protect against foreign competition and encourage the South to buy goods made in the North.
The Southern states, on the other hand, felt that the enslavement of African people was vital to their economy and did not want the government interfering. They fought for enslaved individuals to be counted in terms of representation and threatened to abandon the convention if they were not counted. They also wanted to protect the existing property rights of slaveholders.
The framers of the Constitution, in an effort to maintain the unity of the new United States, agreed on a compromise that called for representation in the House of Representatives to be apportioned based on a state's free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. This agreement became known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. It is part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution.
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The Great Compromise
The delegates from larger, more populous states favoured the Virginia Plan, which called for each state to have a different number of representatives based on the state's population. On the other hand, delegates from smaller states supported the New Jersey Plan, which proposed that each state send the same number of representatives to Congress. The smaller states argued that, despite their lower populations, their states held equal legal status to that of the larger states, and that proportional representation would be unfair to them.
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The Commerce Compromise
The Commerce Clause was included in the Constitution to address this issue, granting Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce and international trade. This enabled the creation of a free trade zone among the states and empowered the president to negotiate trade agreements, with Congress's approval, to open foreign markets to American-made goods.
The interpretation of the Commerce Clause has been a subject of debate, with some arguing that it refers simply to trade or exchange, while others claim that it describes a broader commercial and social intercourse between citizens of different states. Courts have generally taken a broad interpretation of the clause, with the Supreme Court holding that Congress has the authority to regulate local commerce as long as it is part of a continuous "current" of commerce involving the interstate movement of goods and services.
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Selection of the president
The selection of the president was a key issue that the framers of the US Constitution had to grapple with. The framers debated a range of ways to select the president, including direct election by popular vote, by members of Congress, by electors selected by lottery, by state governors, or by an Electoral College.
The framers of the Constitution considered various options for selecting the president, with some strong disagreements among the delegates. James Wilson of Pennsylvania, for instance, favoured a national government that was more independent of the states and proposed the direct election of the president by popular vote. On the other hand, many framers preferred selection by members of Congress, as this would place the decision in the hands of some of the nation's most knowledgeable leaders. Another suggestion was made by Elbridge Gerry, who proposed selection by state governors.
Ultimately, the framers settled on the Electoral College as the means for electing the president, a compromise between those who favoured direct popular election and those who supported other selection systems. The Electoral College was established in the Constitution at its inception in 1789. The approach was that electors would select two candidates for office, with no differentiation between the candidate for president and vice president. One of the two had to be someone who was not from the home state of the elector. The candidate with the majority of electoral votes would become President, and the runner-up would become Vice President.
However, the framers also recognised that the Electoral College system had its limitations, particularly when it came to the emergence of political parties. The election of 1800, for example, resulted in a tie between John Adams of the Federalist Party and Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican Party. It took thirty-five gridlocked ballots in the House of Representatives for Jefferson to officially be elected president. This highlighted the need for a revision of the Electoral College system, leading to the Twelfth Amendment, which mandated distinct votes for president and vice president.
The selection of the president was indeed a complex issue, and the framers of the Constitution had to navigate a range of perspectives and interests to reach a compromise. This compromise, like many others in the Constitution, reflected the delicate balance of powers and interests in the newly formed nation.
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Federal government powers
The Constitution established a system of federalism, dividing power between the national government and state governments. Federalism at the Founding can be described as "Enumerated Powers Federalism", with the national government holding only limited and enumerated powers, and the states retaining all other powers. The Tenth Amendment reinforces this principle: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
The Framers of the Constitution agreed on a "Great Compromise", which established a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state has equal representation in the Senate, with two senators each, while representation in the House of Representatives is based on population. This compromise resolved the contentious issue of how many representatives each state should send to Congress, with larger states arguing for representation based on population, and smaller states insisting on equal representation.
The Constitution grants Congress certain exclusive powers, such as the ability to regulate trade between states and to declare war. It also outlines shared powers between the federal and state governments, including the power to tax and borrow money.
The Framers also sought to limit the power of the federal government and protect against abuses of power. They established a system of checks and balances, with each branch of government having the ability to constrain the others. The Constitution provides for limited government and enumerates specific powers that are granted to the federal government, leaving the remainder to the states.
The role of the federal government has expanded over time, particularly since the Great Depression. However, some Americans continue to oppose large federal government programs as inconsistent with the original intent of the Constitution. Federalism has evolved through different phases, and federal-state relations remain a contested issue.
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Frequently asked questions
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement that three-fifths of enslaved people would count towards representation in the House of Representatives, increasing the number of congressional seats in several states, particularly in the South.
The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was a proposal put forward by delegates from Connecticut to establish a bicameral legislature. This legislature would have proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate.
The Commerce Compromise gave Congress the authority to control domestic and international trade but not the slave trade for at least 20 years.
The delegates debated several options, including direct election by popular vote, election by members of Congress, by electors selected by lottery, by state governors, or by an Electoral College. Eventually, the Electoral College was chosen, with electors roughly proportional to the population.
