The constitution was a result of a series of compromises. Give at least three examples of these compromises (focus on the most important ones). Explain why they were necessary, how they were reached, who was on each side and what each side wanted. How well did each compromise succeed, i.e. did it accomplish its immediate goals and did it last over time?
Before we had the Constitution of the United States, we had the Articles of Confederation. However, like every important document in our country’s history, there are always issues that must be fixed in order to have a well-running government. Compromises are agreements or settlements that two or more parties reach. Our present Constitution would not be what it is today without key compromises.
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This is where the Three-Fifths Compromise comes in. The Three-Fifths Compromise was not between small and bigger states, but more to do with Northern and Southern states. Slavery was still in place and, unsurprisingly, there were many slaves in southern states. Slaves, if counted as people, accounted for a large portion of a state’s population. Still, slaves were not treated as people. They could not vote or hold a place in office. The question was, how were they to be accounted for when considering population in order to select the right amount of representatives that were to go in the House? The answer was the Three-Fifths …show more content…
However, our constitution is thorough enough to both grant the president special powers, but also limit his powers enough to prevent abusive power useage. The president is our commander in chief, he is allowed to make treaties, he has the power of the veto, and he can choose the cabinet, amongst other powers. While some were against the presidency, a compromise was reached through checks and balances. The Constitution made it so that each branch limited each other from having too much power. For example, the Legislative branch keeps the Executive branch (and the president) in check. If the president decides to veto a bill, the Legislative branch, Congress, can override that veto. Similarly, the Supreme Court, or the Judicial branch, can prevent Congress from passing a law if it declares it to be
When the Founding Fathers got together at Philadelphia to draft the Constitution, they had many different views and opinions as to how to govern our country. At the convention, the founders fought over the issues of slavery, representation and the Congress’s powers. Their personal lives had influenced their ideas and some of the compromises made at the Constitutional Convention. The founders’ different personal experiences, economic backgrounds, and coming from states of different sizes, economy and needs, led to the creation of the Three-Fifths Compromise, The Great Compromise, and the Slave Trade Compromise.
Can you imagine president controlling your life? The constitution use three different forms to make a group or a person from getting too much power on his hands. The are three types of power that each contusion have in order to keep power equal. One of them is Legislative Branch Congress “Can approve Presidential nominations”(Document C). It’s a example how governments try to keep power equal.
As I stated earlier each state wanted to be represented according to different factors. The states with bigger populations wanted representation to be based solely off of population. The states with smaller populations wanted there to be a fixed number of representatives per state, regardless of size or population. The Connecticut Compromise resolved this issue by forming the two houses that we have today.
The Three Fifths compromise states that a slave be counted as three-fifths of a person. Therefore, the population of the southern states equaled the population of the northern states. Now that the populations were balanced, the south and the north sent the same amount of representatives to the House of Representatives. Pro-slavery southerners felt as if the north still had an advantage, but it was actually the south that had the advantage in the Senate and the House of Representatives.... ...
The 1787 Constitutional Convention was paramount in unifying the states after the Revolutionary War. However, in order to do so, the convention had to compromise on many issues instead of addressing them with all due haste. This caused the convention to leave many issues unresolved. Most notably were the issues of slavery, race, secession, and states’ rights. Through the Civil War and the Reconstruction, these issues were resolved, and in the process the powers of the federal government were greatly expanded.
...ge was created, to voice the people’s opinion and maintain distance from mob rule. Having members in the country’s capital vote based on their state’s decision enables the country to not suffer the fate of being controlled by a radical crowd. Now, the question of slave representation became an issue for the delegates at the Constitutional Convention. The southern states wanted the slave population to have a say, while the northern states were dead against counting something that was bought as property, to be counted as a person. By counting slaves, the representation of the south in Congress would increase, allowing plantation owners to have the most say with the country’s decisions. Overtime, the north had to create the Three-Fifths Compromise with slaves (giving each slave three-fifths of a vote), since the South threatened to cut off the North’s food supply.
The smaller states wanted to have the same number of representatives as large states. Larger states however, wanted to have more power considering their states contained more land and population. The fathers of the constitution decided to combine the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. This is known as a bicameral legislature. The senate has two representatives no matter the size of the state, and the House of Representatives is determined by its population. The constitutional leaders then had to think of how to count slaves. Remaining states with slaves wanted to count them as whole people. The two sides came to an agreement of counting three-fifths of the slave population. The United States however, no longer has slaves but this is the government that we live in
Furthermore, the creation of The Constitution caused much debate between the elite and democratic states because they thought that if the Government got all of the power, they would lose their rights. The conflict between the North and South played a major role in the development of this document. The North felt that representation in Congress should be based on the number of total people and South felt that it should be based on number of whites. However, The Three Fifths Compromise settled this when it was said a slave will count as 3/5 of a free person of representatives and taxation. Article one section two of the Constitution defines how the population will be counted, obviously there was a strong opposition to this by Southern states like Virginia because their economy was based on slave labor and they had a bigger population because of it.
Since the beginning of their new nation, the United States had many differences between the Northern and Southern states. During the Constitutional Convention they disagreed on how to determine their representation in the house based on population; the Southerners wanted to count their slaves and the Northerners did not, which lead to the three-fifths compromise. Later in the Convention there were concessions given to the South, which left the Northerners feeling uneasy, such as: a guarantee that the slave trade would not be interfered with by Congress until 1808 and slave owners were given the right to recover refugee slaves from anywhere in the United States. While many Northern delegates were disappointed with the rights given to the South, they felt it was necessary for the good of the Nation. This was necessary to form a strong central government and union between the states.
After America was recognized as an independent country from England, the new republic went through almost twenty years worth of trial and error to find a government that would satisfy the needs of the citizens, the states, and the central national government. The most memorable, and influential, action of this time would have to be the Connecticut Compromise, proposed Roger Sherman, following the proposal of the Large and Small State plans at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. This Compromise directly affected the amount of representation from each state, and created the government system we are familiar with today.
One agreement the Constitution consisted of was the three-fifths Compromise. Foner states that the Constitution did not allow the national government to meddle with slavery in the states. This meant that three out of every five slaves could be counted as part of the state 's population. The powerpoint mentions that this raised their representation in the House of Representatives. The congress could not mess with the slave trade until
The first event leading up to the Constitution was the Missouri Compromise. This happened in 1820 and was just one step towards the disunion. The Missouri Compromise was the legislation that prohibited slavery in the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. This meant all the territory above the 36°30’N latitude line. The Missouri Compromise also admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. This was done in order to keep the balance of slave and Free states in the Senate. This was a conflict because people wouldn’t think that was fair and cause problems. The government would never be able to solve that issue even if they were trying hard. Another step to the disunion was the Wilmot Proviso in 1846. Even though the Wilmot Proviso banning slavery in territories acquired by Mexico didn’t become a law it still caused a problem as things usually do. It caused a bitter debate over slavery to reappear after
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.
Several aspects of the executive branch give the presidency political power. The president’s biggest constitutional power is the power of the veto (Romance, July 27). This is a power over Congress, allowing the president to stop an act of Congress in its tracks. Two things limit the impact of this power, however. First, the veto is simply a big “NO” aimed at Congress, making it largely a negative power as opposed to a constructive power (July 27). This means that the presidential veto, while still quite potent even by its mere threat, is fundamentally a reactive force rather than an active force. Second, the presidential veto can be overturned by two-thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate (Landy and Milkis, 289). This means that the veto doesn’t even necessarily hav...
Even with the very few examples I’ve included, it’s easy to note that every president is given the same powers and it’s up to them if they want to use them or not. Some may use some while other presidents favor others. Powers of the presidents don’t always change and have been used since the Constitution was drawn up. Continuing on from now, each president will continue to use these powers to further keep up with the order amongst the country. The United States depends on the president and needs it in order for its well-being. The country wouldn’t be what it is today without the president of the United States of America.