6 compromises at the constitutional convention

Unit I Lesson 6

Compromises at the Constitutional

Convention

Essential Questions:

• What are the origins of American government?

• What type of government was established at the Constitutional Convention of 1789?

• How was our government shaped by the historical situation at the time and the philosophical tradition that influenced the framers of the constitution?

Federalists

Separation of

Powers

Checks and

Balances

More Representation =

More…

Plans

“The Virginia Plan”- Proposal favored by large

states that would have based representation in

Congress upon population (“Proportional

Representation”)James

Madison

Virginia Plan

“Big States”

111,00045,000

Population

New Jersey Plan

“Small

States”

“The New Jersey Plan”- Proposal favored by

small states that would have granted equal

representation in Congress regardless of

population

111,00045,000

Population

William

Patterson

The

Virginia

Plan

The

New Jersey

Plan

Big StatesSmall States

“Population” “Equality”

State Population

Virginia 111,000

Pennsylvania 110,000

Massachusetts 95,000

New York 84,000

North Carolina 70,000

Connecticut 61,000

Maryland 56,000

New Jersey 45,000

New Hampshire 36,000

South Carolina 35,000

Rhode Island 16,000

Georgia 13,000

Delaware 12,000

Roger

Sherman Connecticut

Small StatesBig States

Compromise

“The Great Compromise” (“The Connecticut Compromise”)- The

Legislative Branch (“Congress”) would be “bicameral”

(have two houses):

Sherman

Great Compromise

“Connecticut

Compromise”

Virginia Plan

1) The U.S. House of Representatives: States have

proportional representation based upon their

population

45,000111,000

Big States

2) The U.S. Senate: States have equal

representation regardless of their population

New Jersey

Plan

111,00045,000

Small States

“The Great

Compromise”

Small States Big States

Compromise

“Bicameral Legislative

Branch”

“The Great Compromise”

Sherman

Northern

States

Southern

States

Adams Franklin Franklin

Washington Madison

Representation

Population

Northern

States

Southern

States

Franklin

MadisonGreat

“The Three-Fifths Compromise” – Three out of every five slaves

would be counted in the census when determining the

population of a state in the House of Representatives

Slavery?

“Representatives shall be apportioned among the

states by adding the number of free persons and three-fifths of all

‘other persons’”

3/5ths Compromise

Southern States

The New Jersey and Virginia Plans introduced at the Constitutional Convention differed mainly

over whether:

A. Slavery should be permitted in the country

B. There should be an executive branch at the national level

C. The states or the national government should have the power to regulate interstate commerce

D. The national legislative branch should represent the population or be equal

The Great Compromise allocated

representation on the basis of:

A. Population, in both houses

B. Equality, in both houses

C. Population in the House and equality in

the Senate

D. Population in the Senate and equality in

the House

Which of the following statements best characterizes the overall attitudes of the

Framers of the Constitution toward slavery?

A. They were all slave owners determined to preserve slavery

B. They supported the expansion of slavery beyond the thirteen states

C. They were all abolitionists determined to end slavery

D. There was some sentiment to limit slavery but Southern political considerations made that impossible

The Three-fifths Compromise at the

Constitutional Convention was intended

primarily to solve disputes between:

A. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander

Hamilton

B. Britain and the United States

C. Federalists and Anti-Federalists

D. Northern and Southern Delegates