Essay On The Great Compromise

599 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The great compromise pros and cons

There are many compromises that have shaped the Constitution and made an impact on History. One of the most important compromises was the Great Compromise, which was also referred to as the Connecticut Compromise. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth proposed this Compromise. According to Bianco and Cannon, the plan suggested establishing a Congress with two houses. The Senate would have two senators from each state and in the House of Representatives each state’s number of representatives would be based on its population. This Compromise offered a solution to the tension between larger and smaller states over their representation in the newly proposed Senate. The larger states believed that representation should have been based on the contribution each state made to the nation’s finances and defense. The smaller states agreed that the only fair plan was one of equal representation. Without this Compromise being adopted, the Constitution would not have been passed. There were a few alternatives to keep in mind… Delegates from smaller states supported the New Jersey plan, under which each state would send the same number of representatives to Congress while delegates from the larger and more …show more content…

This Compromise helped ease tensions for a while but the issue kept building on. Slave owners were frustrated because the Underground Railroad was successful which lead to slaves being able to escape and head north. Southern states agreed to admit California as a free state as an alternative but only if Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required northern states to give, escaped slaves back to their owners. Congress overturned the Missouri Compromise and allowed each state to decide whether they wanted to be a slave or free state. It was necessary to compromise this issue because slavery was

Show More
Related

  • How Does the Constitution Protect the People from Tyranny?

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...However the large states were not satisfied with their plan either, so a third plan was made, The Great Compromise. In other words the Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise) happened, it mixed the ideas of the two and was passed by a one-vote margin. The plan consists of proportional representation in The House of Representatives and equal representation in The Senate, as well as adding separation of powers to the mix. It was highly important and crucial to the success of the new constitution.

    Read More

  • Sectional Compromises In The 19th Century

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 established the slavery line that allowed slavery below it and forbid slavery above it. It also gave the South another slave state in Missouri and the north a free state in Maine. Although each region gained a state in the Senate, the south benefited most from the acquisition because Missouri was in such a pivotal position in the country, right on the border. Later on with the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, Missouri had a big role in getting Kansas to vote south because many proslavery Missourians crossed the border into Kansas to vote slavery. The Missouri Compromise also helped slavery because the line that was formed to limit slavery had more land below the line than above it. Therefore, slavery was given more land to be slave and therefore more power in the Senate, when the territories became state. In effect, the north got the short end of the stick and the south was given the first hint of being able to push around the north. The interesting thing is, the north agreed to all these provisions that would clearly benefit the south.

    Read More

  • The Differences between the North and South on the Eve of the Civil War

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    The North always looked at the South with antipathy and kept trying to abolish slavery, but the South didn’t like the North interfering and wanted to continue the use of slavery. The Missouri compromise was another issue between the North and the South. Missouri was a territory state, and it opted to be in the Union in 1818. There was a proposal to ban Slavery in Missouri, even though there were more than 2000 slaves living there, in desperation, Missouri asked for help from the South. Maine was another territory that had petitioned to enter the union, so in 1820 a compromise was set and Missouri was allowed to stay a slave state, and Maine was declared a free state.

    Read More

  • Thomas Jefferson's Response To The Missouri Compromise

    2270 Words  | 5 Pages

    Western expansion and the Louisiana Purchase both led to the formation of the Missouri Compromise because more states started applying for statehood, and this distorted the balance between the slave and free states. Division between the North and South increased as a result of the Missouri Compromise. It created a line that separated the Union and set it to the path of Civil War. At first, the North and South saw the compromise as a successful document that maintained the balance between the number of slave and free states; however, when the Union gained more territory through Mexican War, Congress decided to modify the existing compromise. Finally, the repeal of the compromise made the final push that led to the explosion of animosity between the North and South, which led to the Civil War. Slavery in the new territories remained the main issue that caused the necessity of forming the Missouri Compromise. Jefferson accurately stated that the Missouri Compromise stood only as a temporary solution that eventually led to the full-fledged sectional war between

    Read More

  • The Monroe Doctrine Was A Bold Statement Of American Foreign Policy

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    This deal was one of the reasons why the Civil War happened. The Missouri Compromise was a deal between the north and south to allow Missouri into the Union as a slave state, while Maine came in as a free state. This deal made sure of a foreboding civil war between the North and the South. This deal was a big mistake, as the north and south grew closer to a civil war. The Missouri Compromise was one of the biggest mistakes in American history.

    Read More

  • Creation of the United States Constitution

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    This task was easier said than done. The fear of creating a government with too much power was a fear that was very much alive throughout the states. Tyranny was a common factor in developing governments, the delegates were seeking to avoid this error. Two ground rules were put into place for the Convention. The first was that any and all deliberations were to remain secretive. The second was that no topic or decisions would be considered closed and could therefore be up for debate and revision at any time. Once these rules were agreed upon, business started. The two contenders were the Virginia Plan, which had the larger states rooting, and the New Jersey Plan, claiming the votes of the smaller states. Under the Virginia Plan, legislature would be two houses and would be represented based on population. Under the New Jersey Plan, legislature would be one house and each state would have equal representation regardless of population. An agreement could not be reached between these two plans, instead a compromise was made. The Great Compromise met each side with an upper and lower house. The upper house was the Senate and would provide equal representation that was elected by the lower house. The lower house was the House of Representatives and would be dispersed based on population of the states. This compromise satisfied the small and large states, giving a

    Read More

  • The Articles Of Confederation And The Constitution: An In-Depth Analysis

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Connecticut Compromise resolved this issue by forming the two houses that we have today. In one house, the Senate, every state is represented equally regardless of population. In the lower house, the House of Representatives each state receives one representative for a set number of people. This satisfied all of the states and helped resolve one of the greatest conflicts while writing the Constitution. Another conflict that arose was with the counting of slaves in the census used to set the number of representatives per state. This was resolved under the Three-Fifths Compromise which stated that every slave would be counted as 3/5 of a person, although these slaves were given no voice or rights.

    Read More

  • The Great Compromise

    783 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Compromise, is also referred to as, The Great Connecticut Compromise, was headed by Franklin. The Compromise was discussed in meeting by a committee, at the constitutional convention was held in 1787. This was to accomplish and settle the interests for both the small and large states. It had allowed the for one to lead in the senate and the other in the House by an arrangement, that each of the states would have two representatives in the Senate no matter what the size of the state. However, any provisions, were further granted based on the populace of the house (Wilson, Dilulio, Jr. and Bose, 23).

    Read More

  • The Differences Between North And South

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Additionally, the majority of states had conflicts between slavery in their territory, one of them dealt with missouri. Missouri applied for admission into the Union as a slave state; this became a problem because missouri ruined the balance for free slaves and slave states. The northern states wanted to ban slavery from occurring in missouri because the unbalanced situation it put towards the other states. In response, the southern states declared how congress doesn’t have the power to ban slavery in missouri. However, Henry Clay offers a solution, the missouri compromise of 1820. Missouri admitted as slave state and Maine becomes a free slave state. Slavery is banned in Louisiana creating a 36 30 line in missouri’s southern border; this maintained the balance in the U.S senate.

    Read More

  • The Missouri Compromise

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1820 Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. As this would ruin the balance between Slave states and Free states in the Senate, Henry Clay proposed the Missouri compromise. This arranged it that while Missouri was admitted as a Slave state, Maine was also admitted as a free state. It also created an imaginary line along the 36o latitude, where slavery was allowed below it but prevented above it. However they limited themselves by only applying the Compromise to lands gained in the Louisiana purchase. This led to conflict after the Mexican war in which America gained new territories in the West. This doomed the Missouri Compromise, which was probably the most promising of the three. Had the Compromise been applied to all American lands then perhaps it could have succeeded. Instead the Missouri Compromise failed and only led to further conflict between north and south in the future.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Irrepressible Conflict Between The North And South

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    The new territories and the discussion of whether they would be admitted to the Union free or slave-holding stirred up animosity. The Compromise of 1850 which offered stricter fugitive slave laws, admitted California as a free state, allowed slavery in Washington D.C., and allowed new territories to choose whether they wanted to be slave-holding or free was supposed to help ease tension between the North and South. Yet Southern states wanted more new territories to be slave-holders so the institution of it would continue to grow. They believed slavery was a way of life and as Larrabee said in his senate speech, “You cannot break apart this organization and this system that has intertwined itself into every social and political fiber of that great people who inhabit one-half of the Union.” (“There is a Conflict of Races”).

    Read More

  • Research Paper On The Great Compromise

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Compromise of 1787 was definitely great; much greater, in fact, than some may think. {Insert Introduction Paragraph Here} It was one of the several compromises made to resolve conflicts between Americans. The Great Compromise was

    Read More

  • Structure of the Federal Court System

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first proposals to this new plan were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a separation of powers among the government’s three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Some states proposed this idea and came up with the New Jersey Plan, which called for all of the states to have equal representation from Congress. In order to move forward from the deadlock of the two proposals, the Connecticut Compromise was enacted. This decided that legislature would be bicameral, which meant that there would be two houses: one would have equal representation and one would be based on state population. This unified the states under a federal system. To this day, there are three types of Fe...

    Read More

  • What Was The Great Compromise

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    Deciding how America's government would work during the creation of the constitution, also decided the future of America and its decisions. Our government derives from the creation of the American government after the revolutionary war in 1787. To get all of the state’s to agree on the constitution many compromises had to be made. The delegates from the thirteen states met to change America. Our government today is based on the solutions and compromises made at the constitutional convention. One of the biggest compromises that set the stage for the rest of the constitution's success was made from different parts proposed by different sections of America. The Great Compromise would not have been successful, if America was not willing to use different viewpoints, create small compromises in between large ones, and combine thoughts to form something that all states would be happy with.

    Read More

  • The Compromises of the Founding Fathers in Founding Brothers byJoseph J. Ellis

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Founding Fathers were a revolutionary group, diverse in personalities and ideologies but shared the common goal of American liberty. They understood that the citizens should have a say in their government, and the government only obtains its power from the citizen’s consent. In order to avoid endless debates on issues that needed to be solved immediately, the revolutionary leaders compromised their beliefs. Joseph J. Ellis writes of the compromises that changed the constitutional debate into the creation of political parties in, The Founding Brothers. The 3 main chapters that show cased The Founding Brothers’ compromises are The Dinner, The Silence, and The Collaborators.

    Read More

More about Essay On The Great Compromise

Open Document