6 compromises at the constitutional convention
TRANSCRIPT
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
