Constitutional Debate II
Creating the Constitution Through a
Series of Compromises
A Series of Compromises
●Delegates’ goal was to
create a new plan for
government that all
states would approve of
●Conflict between small
and large states
●Conflict about
representation of slaves
Small States vs. Large States
●The Virginia Plan
●The New Jersey
Plan
●The Great
Compromise
The Virginia Plan
●Influenced by James
Madison
●Favored large states
●Two house, or
bicameral Congress
The Virginia Plan:
A Bicameral Congress
●Congress would have
two houses
●Both houses would be
based on each state’s
population.
●The lower house
would be elected by
the people
The Virginia Plan
●Separation of powers
between the
legislative, executive,
and judicial branches
●The executive, or
president, would be
chosen by Congress
●concept of checks and
balances
The New Jersey Plan
●Presented by William
Paterson
●States had equal
representation
●Favored the small
states
The New Jersey Plan:
Unicameral Congress
●Unicameral means
one house in
Congress
●One State One
Vote
●All States have the
same power
The New Jersey Plan
●Congress could set
taxes and regulate
trade
●Executive council
●Federal Judiciary is
appointed by the
executive council and
serves a life term
The Great Compromise
●Also known as the
Connecticut
Compromise
●Connecticut
delegate, Roger
Sherman
●Alternative plan for a
bicameral congress
The Great Compromise:
A Bicameral Congress
●One chamber of
Congress, House of
Representatives, is based
on population
●One chamber of
Congress, Senate, is
based on equal
representation
●Structure of government
we have today
Southern Slave States vs. Northern
Free States
●Three-Fifths
Compromise
●Commerce and Slave
Trade Compromise
Three-Fifths Compromise:
Southern States vs. Northern States
●550,000 slaves in
primarily southern
states
●Debate over how
slaves would be
counted when
determining a state’s
population.
The Extent of Slavery in the 13
States
●This map shows the
percentage of
slaves in each
state in 1770
Three-Fifths Compromise
●Presented by
delegates Roger
Sherman and James
Wilson
●Originated in the
1783 Amendment to
the Articles of
Confederation
Three-Fifths Compromise
●Every 5 enslaved
persons would count as
3 free persons
●Three-fifths of the slave
population in each state
would be used to
determine
representation
The Impact of the
Three-Fifths Compromise
●Disproportionate
representation of
Southern States in
Congress until the
Civil War
●The Thirteenth (XIII)
Amendment (1865)
made the Three-Fifths
Clause irrelevant
Additional Compromises
●Conflict between
Southern and
Northern states
over trade matters
●Conflict over who
should choose the
President of the
new government
Commerce and Slave Trade
Compromise
●Congress could
regulate trade
between states, as
well as with other
countries
●Congress could not
tax exports
Commerce and Slave Trade
Compromise
●Congress could not
interfere with the
slave trade before
1808
Electoral College
●A compromise on who
gets to elect the
president
●Citizens indirectly elect
the president through a
“college of electors”
●We still use this system
today!
Understanding the Origins of the
Electoral College
●Support for popular
elections was not
universal
●A way to ensure the
President has a wide
range of support outside
of their state
●Very difficult to run a
national popular
election in 1787
The Constitutional Electoral College
●Structure and function
is outlined in Article II,
Section I of the
Constitution
●Number of electors
equals the number of
congressional delegates
Citations (Images and references)
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Slide 1: .N.d. Photograph. n.p. Web. 5 Jun 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Moodlelogo-large.jpg/1024px-Moodle-logo-large.jpg>
Slide 2: Jakeschov, Jana. 2006. Graphic. n.p. Web. 14 Apr 2013.
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Slide 3: Cyberscooty, . Book Stack. 2012. Graphic. n.p. Web. 14 Apr 2013.
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Slide 4: Levy, David. 2013. Photograph. n.p. Web. 28 Apr 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Margaret_Thatcher_cropped.jpg.