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Debate over Representation in Congress & The Great Compromise
One major issue that the delegates faced was giving fair representation to both large and small states in the legislative (law-making) body that would later become Congress.
The US Capitol Building--Home of Congress (the US's national legislature)
The Virginia Plan
James Madison proposed the Virginia Plan, which called for a bicameral, or two-house, legislature, with membership based on each state’s population. Delegates from the small states vigorously objected to the Virginia Plan because it gave more power to states with large populations.
The New Jersey Plan
Small states supported William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan, which proposed a single-house congress in which each state had an equal vote.
The Great Compromise (AKA: The Connecticut Plan)
The debate became deadlocked and dragged on through the hot and humid summer days. Eventually, Roger Sherman suggested the Great Compromise, which offered a two-house Congress to satisfy both small and big states. Each state would have equal representation in the Senate, or upper house. The size of the population of each state would determine its representation in the House of Representatives, or lower house. Voters of each state would choose members of the House. The state legislatures would choose members of the Senate.
What does Congress look like today?
The Three-Fifths Compromise
The Great Compromise settled one major issue but led to conflict over another. Southern delegates, whose states had large numbers of slaves, wanted slaves included in the population count that determined the number of representatives in the House. Northern delegates, whose states had few slaves, disagreed. Not counting the slaves would give the Northern states more representatives than the Southern states in the House of Representatives. The delegates eventually agreed to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which called for three-fifths of a state’s slaves to be counted as part of the population.
The Trade (Commerce) Compromise
Again a regional disagreement arose, in this case over the issue of trade and its regulation. The northern, more industrial states saw the regulation of trade by the federal government as essential to the smooth working of a national economy. The southern states feared regulation of trade would not only threaten the sale of slaves, but also the essential export of their agricultural products (chiefly cotton and tobacco).
The Presidency Compromise
Nearly all of the delegates could agree on the need for a president, to serve as a central figure and executive of the new nation. The disagreement arose over the power and service of such an office. Some delegates, fearing the rise of king-like president advocated for a weak official, who would be limited to a single one-year term. Others argued the need for a powerful figure who would be elected, but serve for life. Debates also raged about how best to elect the president and what role the people of the nation should serve in his selection.
The Articles of Confederation did not provide for a Chief Executive of the United States. Therefore, when delegates decided that a president was necessary, there was a disagreement over how he or she should be elected to office. While some delegates felt that the president should be popularly elected, others feared that the electorate would not be informed enough to make a wide decision. They came up with other alternatives such as going through each state's Senate to elect the president. In the end, the two sides compromised with the creation of the electoral college. In the electoral college, the citizens vote for electors who then vote for the president.
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