Jonah Patel
The United States Constitution, ratified by all 13 states in 1789, 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 state. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia saw delegates from 12 of the 13 original states meet to revise the Articles of Confederation, but it soon became clear that a more comprehensive overhaul was required. The Constitution was the result of a series of compromises between differing interests and viewpoints, with delegates wary of centralised power and loyal to their states.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| State representation in Congress | The Great Compromise: Proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate |
| Congressional representation | The Three-Fifths Compromise: Counting enslaved Africans as three-fifths of a person |
| Election of the president | Electoral College: Electors roughly proportional to population |
| Trade | No tariffs on exports from the U.S. |
| Slavery | Ban on the international slave trade from 1808 |
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What You'll Learn
- The Great Compromise: a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate
- The Three-Fifths Compromise: slaves counted as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation
- Commerce Compromise: federal government regulates domestic and international trade, not the slave trade
- Compromise on slavery: Congress could ban the slave trade, but only after 20 years
- Electoral College: a compromise on how the president is elected
The Great Compromise: a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate
The United States Constitution was created through a series of compromises among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. One of the most significant compromises was the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise. This compromise addressed the issue of congressional representation, as the states were heavily divided on this matter.
The larger states, like Virginia, argued that representation in Congress should be based on each state's population. On the other hand, smaller states, like New Jersey, believed that each state should have equal representation. The Great Compromise combined both plans by establishing a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate. This allowed for both sides to be represented in the legislature, with the House representing the people and the Senate representing the states.
The delegates from Connecticut, including Roger Sherman, are often credited as the architects of this compromise. The Great Compromise eventually passed by a single vote, with Madison and Wilson winning the fight for representation in the House but losing the battle for representation in the Senate.
The Great Compromise was a significant step in the creation of the U.S. Constitution, as it resolved one of the fiercest arguments among the delegates and paved the way for the formation of a powerful central government that has served as the foundation of the U.S. federal government for over two centuries.
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The Three-Fifths Compromise: slaves counted as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation
The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the inclusion of slaves in counting a state's total population. This total population count was used to determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives, the number of electoral votes each state received, and how much money the states would pay in taxes.
Slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. Free states, on the other hand, wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, as those slaves had no voting rights. The compromise struck counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the House of Representatives, giving the Southern states more power in the House relative to the North.
This compromise was an attempt to balance the interests of the slaveholding Southern states with those of the free Northern states. It also gave slaveholders enlarged powers in Southern legislatures. It is important to note that this compromise did not completely satisfy either side, but it was a compromise that allowed for the creation of a government charter acceptable to each of the 13 states.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a highly contentious and controversial aspect of the Convention. It was debated at length between July 9 and 13, 1787, and was initially voted down by the members present. However, a compromise was necessary to unite the states, and the ratio of three-fifths was brought back and agreed upon by eight states to two.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was eventually repealed by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which superseded Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and explicitly ended the practice of counting slaves as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation.
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Commerce Compromise: federal government regulates domestic and international trade, not the slave trade
The Commerce Compromise was one of several key compromises that allowed the US Constitution to be written and ratified. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, representing 12 of the 13 original states, gathered in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, which had been the governing document since the American Revolution. However, they soon realised that a more comprehensive overhaul was needed, and so they set out to create a new constitution.
The Commerce Compromise addressed the issue of how the new federal government should regulate business. The compromise gave Congress the authority to control domestic and international trade. However, it excluded the slave trade from federal regulation for at least 20 years. This was a highly controversial issue, as some states feared that a central government with this authority might favour some states over others. On the other hand, other states recognised the necessity for a central authority to control commerce to avoid trade conflicts and guarantee an efficient national economy.
The issue of slavery threatened to derail the Union, and it was temporarily resolved when the delegates agreed that the slave trade could continue until 1808. This was a compromise between the Northern and Southern states, which took opposing positions on the issue. Northern states wanted to end the importation and sale of enslaved individuals, while Southern states felt that slavery was vital to their economy and did not want government interference.
The Commerce Compromise was a reflection of the diverse interests and viewpoints presented at the Constitutional Convention. While it did not fully satisfy all parties, it was a necessary concession to create a unified document that could be ratified by the required number of states.
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Compromise on slavery: Congress could ban the slave trade, but only after 20 years
The issue of slavery was one of the most contentious topics during the Constitutional Convention, threatening to derail the Union. Delegates from the Northern states wanted to end the importation and sale of enslaved people, while Southern states argued that slavery was vital to their economy. This disagreement led to a compromise, known as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which allowed slavery to continue for a limited period.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a concession made by the anti-slavery Northern delegates, who sought to block the expansion of slavery and prevent the inclusion of explicit protections for slavery in the Constitution. As part of this compromise, Congress was given the authority to ban the international slave trade, but only after a period of 20 years from the ratification of the Constitution, which would be on January 1, 1808. This delay protected the slave trade for over two decades, during which more than 200,000 people were imported into the United States as slaves.
The compromise was a pragmatic solution to a highly divisive issue. The Southern slaveholders, who wanted to safeguard their existing property rights and protect slavery from future restrictions, agreed to the eventual possibility of abolishing the slave trade. This compromise, along with the agreement to count enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation, reflected the deeply entrenched nature of slavery in the United States at the time.
While the Three-Fifths Compromise was a temporary solution, it did not fully resolve the issue of slavery, which would later erupt into the Civil War. The legality of slavery remained a state-level decision until the ratification of the 13th Amendment after the Civil War, which finally outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States.
In conclusion, the compromise on slavery in the writing of the Constitution was a complex and controversial aspect of the Constitutional Convention. The delegates' decision to delay the ban on the slave trade by 20 years reflected the competing interests and viewpoints of the time. While it was a pragmatic solution, it also perpetuated the inhumane practice of slavery and postponed the inevitable conflict over this divisive issue.
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Electoral College: a compromise on how the president is elected
The U.S. Constitution, produced after the Constitutional Convention and ratified by all 13 states in 1789, is sometimes referred to as a "bundle of compromises". One of the key compromises that helped make the U.S. Constitution a reality was the Electoral College: a compromise on how the president is elected.
The Articles of Confederation did not include a chief executive of the United States. Thus, when the delegates decided that a president was necessary, a disagreement arose over how he should be elected to office. Some delegates felt that the president should be popularly elected, while others feared that the electorate would not be informed enough to make that decision. Other alternatives were proposed, such as electing the president through each state's Senate.
Ultimately, the two sides compromised and created the Electoral College, which consists of electors roughly proportional to the population. Citizens vote for electors who are bound to a particular candidate, and these electors then vote for the president. The Electoral College was also influenced by the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation and, in turn, for determining the voting power in the Electoral College. This greatly increased the number of congressional seats in several states, particularly in the South.
The Electoral College was viewed by some as a way of boosting the power of slaveholding delegates over presidential selection. For others, it was a way of guarding against dangerous demagogues and leaving the presidential election to the votes of national elites serving in the Electoral College.
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Frequently asked questions
The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was proposed by Roger Sherman and other delegates from Connecticut. It resolved the issue of congressional representation by establishing a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate.
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a controversial agreement that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation and determining voting power in the Electoral College.
The Commerce Compromise addressed the role of the new federal government in regulating business and trade. While some states were wary of central authority, others recognised its necessity to avoid trade conflicts and guarantee the efficient operation of the national economy. The compromise allowed Congress to control domestic and international trade but excluded the slave trade, which could only be banned after 20 years.
The delegates disagreed over whether the president should be popularly elected or elected by each state's Senate. The Electoral College was created as a compromise, with electors roughly proportional to population. Citizens vote for electors, who then vote for the president.
The issue of slavery threatened to tear the Union apart. Northern states wanted to end the importation and sale of enslaved people, while Southern states felt it was vital to their economy. A compromise was reached where the slave trade could continue until 1808, after which Congress had the power to abolish it, which it did.
