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3/5 Compromise Vs Great Compromise

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The framers of the Constitution had a set image they wanted to put forth in America, and to get the document ratified they were forced to make compromises. Two of the most important compromises are the 3/5 clause and “Great Compromise”. During, the Constitutional Convention there was a deadlock about representation. Arguments from both sides seem valid, big states argue representation should be based on population while, small states argue it should be equal representation. In need for a solution, a few men proposed a bicameral legislature. Which, allows for both population based representation, and equal presentation by having a House of Representatives and a Senate. The Senate has equal representation that allows 2 senators from each state, …show more content…

Obviously, that would be greatly unfair to the northern states because the south would have more seats in the House of Representatives meaning unfair representation. As a result, many northern states refused to allow this happen so both regions came to an agreement that allowed slaves to be counted as 3/5 of a person, when doing a census for determining seats in the House of Representatives. Finally, Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 was put into the Constitution making the compromise official. The whole Convention was deadlocked on the slave representation issue which almost completely fell apart if nothing was to be done, but lucky the compromise kept the Constitutional Convention together. Moreover, the men who opposed slavery, but accepted the 3/5 clause did so knowing the Constitution had more good to give than some of the evils written in it. They could have thought the Constitution had provisions written down that could eventually outlaw slavery or maybe they realized this new government was greatly beneficial to all Americans. Although, we can now all agree that even though the 3/5th clause is wrong, it gave America a chance to become a great

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