The Great Compromise: The Most Important Debates In American History
The Great Compromise
The Great Compromise was a debate during the Constitution Convention on determining on how many representatives of each state should have under the new governments law making branch. This is known as being one of the most important debates in American history because of the foundation it laid for what our legislative government is today. Originally, Congress would be seen as a 1 chamber with only a certain number of representatives per state. The debate was how many representatives should each state have and with this came up 2 plans. Delegates from the larger states came up and supported the Virginia plan which called for different number of representatives per state based on population. Delegates from smaller
states came up and supported the New Jersey plan where each state would have the same number of representatives per state. Neither side would budge during this debate where having one chamber will favor more populated states or less populated states. A delegate from Connecticut, Roger Sherman, proposed a new plan from the old single chamber proposal to a bicameral chamber or a 2 chamber congress. His proposal suggested that there would be equal amount of representatives to one chamber what will be become the Senate, and the other chamber will send 1 representative per 30,000 people to the other house which will become the House. At the time, every state in the colonies had bicameral legislatures besides Pennsylvania so using a bicameral legislative was familiar to the colonies. The structure and powers of the congress proposed by Sherman will be explained by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the Federalist Papers. The significance of the Great Compromise is it set the foundation of the Government we know today. It showed how the founding delegates of the United States came together and came to a compromise of how the legislative government made for the people by the people will be run. Today, we still use this structure which was set 225 years ago is what makes this so significant.
Longley, Robert. "The Great Compromise of 1787." About.com US Government Info. About.com, 23 Oct. 2006. Web. 31 Sept. 2012.
Roark, James L. The American Promise; A Compact History. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2007. Print.
Bose, Debopriya. "The Great Compromise." The Great Compromise. Buzzle.com, 06 Jan. 2010. Web. 01 Oct. 2012.
The Great Compromise was a debate during the Constitution Convention on determining on how many representatives of each state should have under the new governments law making branch. This is known as being one of the most important debates in American history because of the foundation it laid for what our legislative government is today. Originally, Congress would be seen as a 1 chamber with only a certain number of representatives per state. The debate was how many representatives should each state have and with this came up 2 plans. Delegates from the larger states came up and supported the Virginia plan which called for different number of representatives per state based on population. Delegates from smaller
states came up and supported the New Jersey plan where each state would have the same number of representatives per state. Neither side would budge during this debate where having one chamber will favor more populated states or less populated states. A delegate from Connecticut, Roger Sherman, proposed a new plan from the old single chamber proposal to a bicameral chamber or a 2 chamber congress. His proposal suggested that there would be equal amount of representatives to one chamber what will be become the Senate, and the other chamber will send 1 representative per 30,000 people to the other house which will become the House. At the time, every state in the colonies had bicameral legislatures besides Pennsylvania so using a bicameral legislative was familiar to the colonies. The structure and powers of the congress proposed by Sherman will be explained by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the Federalist Papers. The significance of the Great Compromise is it set the foundation of the Government we know today. It showed how the founding delegates of the United States came together and came to a compromise of how the legislative government made for the people by the people will be run. Today, we still use this structure which was set 225 years ago is what makes this so significant.
Longley, Robert. "The Great Compromise of 1787." About.com US Government Info. About.com, 23 Oct. 2006. Web. 31 Sept. 2012.
Roark, James L. The American Promise; A Compact History. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2007. Print.
Bose, Debopriya. "The Great Compromise." The Great Compromise. Buzzle.com, 06 Jan. 2010. Web. 01 Oct. 2012.