Simone Lawson
The U.S. Constitution, produced after the Constitutional Convention and ratified by all 13 states in 1789, is sometimes called a bundle of compromises due to the many concessions made by delegates to create a government charter acceptable to each state. One such compromise, the Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the Constitution. Another compromise, concerning the issue of slavery, allowed Congress to ban the international slave trade, but only 20 years after the ratification of the Constitution.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of Compromise | 16 July 1787 |
| Name of Compromise | The Great Compromise, Connecticut Compromise, or Sherman Compromise |
| Legislative Structure | Bicameral legislature |
| Lower House | Proportional representation of the states |
| Upper House | Equal representation of the states |
| Number of Senators | Two from each state |
| House of Representatives | One representative for every 40,000 inhabitants |
| Three-Fifths Clause | Enslaved persons counted as three-fifths of a person for congressional representation |
| Fugitive Clause | Governments of free states required to help recapture runaway slaves |
| Slave Trade | Banned after 20 years from the ratification of the Constitution |
| Election of the President | Electoral College |
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What You'll Learn
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The Southern slaveholding states wanted their entire population to be counted to determine the number of Representatives they could elect and send to Congress. Meanwhile, the Free States in the North wanted to exclude the counting of slave populations in slave states, since those slaves had no voting rights.
Eventually, the framers agreed on a compromise that called for representation in the House of Representatives to be apportioned on the basis of a state's free population plus three-fifths of its enslaved population. This agreement came to be 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 issue of representation was a major point of contention during the Constitutional Convention. The Virginia Plan, drafted by James Madison and introduced by Edmund Randolph, proposed a bicameral legislature with representation in both houses proportional to the size of the state. However, delegates from small states objected to this idea, arguing that the small states would have little power compared to the larger states. The New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Paterson, suggested a unicameral (one-house) legislature in which each state had a single vote.
To resolve these concerns, a committee consisting of one delegate from each state was formed to reach a compromise. The committee proposed a plan that became known as the Great Compromise, which combined elements of both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. This unique plan for congressional representation resolved one of the most controversial aspects of the drafting of the Constitution.
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The Connecticut Compromise
The Articles of Confederation, which was the original governing document of the United States, combined a weak national government with strong state governments. The national government could not tax, enforce the laws it passed, or regulate commerce. These weaknesses, along with an increased sense of national feeling, led to the necessity of the Constitutional Convention, which met from May to September 1787.
During the creation of the new Constitution, two plans emerged to deal with state representation. The Virginia Plan, also known as the Randolph Plan, proposed representation based on each state's population or wealth. The Jersey or New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, suggested equal representation for every state. The Connecticut Compromise, proposed by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, combined both plans. It provided for a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (the House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (the Senate).
The compromise was approved on July 16, 1787, and it played a crucial role in defining the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature, along with proportional representation of the states in the House of Representatives, and required equal representation of the states in the Senate. This compromise reflected a victory for small states, but it also produced a solution that both small and large states could agree on.
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The Fugitive Clause
The Fugitive Slave Clause, also known as the Fugitive Slave Law, the Slave Clause or the Fugitives From Labour Clause, was a clause in the US Constitution that required free states to capture and return fugitive slaves to their former masters in slave states. The clause, Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3, states:
> "No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due."
The clause was unanimously approved by the Convention without much debate. It was enacted to address the lack of provisions for the extradition of fugitive slaves under the Articles of Confederation. During and after the American Revolutionary War, there was no way to compel free states to capture and return fugitive slaves, although there were provisions for the extradition of criminals.
The Fugitive Slave Clause was nullified by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery except as punishment for criminal acts. The Thirteenth Amendment rendered the clause mostly irrelevant, as it abolished slavery and prohibited holding people as slaves or in involuntary servitude.
The enforcement provisions of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 were strengthened as part of the Compromise of 1850.
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The Electoral College
The Three-Fifths Compromise, also known as the "three-fifths clause", was a highly controversial aspect of the Electoral College. This clause counted enslaved persons as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of congressional representation and, in turn, for determining voting power in the Electoral College. This gave slave states additional political power based on the number of people they held in slavery.
The creation of the Electoral College also represented a victory for small states, as it balanced state sovereignty with popular sovereignty tied to actual population size. The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, established equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. This compromise was reached after heated debate and threats from small-state delegates to withdraw from the Convention.
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Frequently asked questions
The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise or the Sherman Compromise, was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature, with proportional representation of the states in the lower house or House of Representatives, and equal representation in the upper house or Senate.
The Three-Fifths Compromise, also known as the Three-Fifths Clause, was a compromise reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It counted enslaved persons as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation and for determining the voting power in the Electoral College.
The Connecticut Compromise is another name for the Great Compromise. It was proposed by Roger Sherman and other delegates from Connecticut. It retained the bicameral legislature, with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation in the upper house.
No, slavery was not abolished by the Constitution. In fact, the Constitution included several compromises that protected the institution of slavery and empowered slave states. However, the anti-slavery Northern delegates did succeed in blocking the expansion of slavery and preventing explicit protections for slavery from being written into the Constitution.
