Congress Compromises

Throughout the convention, Paterson spoke frequently because he shared the same views of the smaller states (Morton, 235). A couple months later, Paterson had a response to the plan developed by the large states, “The plan of government presented by Paterson on Friday, June 15 was the hastily contrived small states' answer to the large states' carefully constructed plan presented by Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph two weeks earlier” (Morton, 236). The answer called for amendments of the Articles of Confederation. These proposals would contribute to making a more workable plan for national government. One purpose called for the formation of a national judiciary which was one proposition that they had in common with the Virginia Plan. The national judiciary would allow for several checks of power such as a term limit for officials. Other proposals involved levies on imports and rules on naturalization. One of the most important objects of the New Jersey plan was to retain the equal representation of the states in Congress. Without the retention of equal representation, there would not be equal rights for the smaller states. In addition, the larger states would have a considerable advantage because they would have dominate power in the Legislative

To solve the debate between the New Jersey plan and the Virginia plan they would come to a compromise called the “Great Compromise”. The Great Compromise was to split Congress into the house of representatives and the Senate. The house of representatives would include representatives based on a state's population. The Senate would have an equal amount of representatives regardless of state population. House members are elected every two years. So the people would have the power to vote out representatives frequently if there representation was misguided. The Senate is elected for 6 year terms and is staggered.

Representation presented a significant conflict for the framers of early American policies. Large states battled for representation based on population, and small states contended for equal representation. The framers solution for for the representation strife was a legislative system that was Bicameral. Bicameral is the latin word for a Two House Congress. The founding fathers created a bicameral legislation as a compromise between the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan to please the feuding sides. This compromise established The House of Representatives and Senate. The framers were in favor of The Connecticut Compromise as well, because it fit perfectly with the idea of checks and balances. Checks and balances were crafted to limit the federal

On July 4, the declaration of Independence required the American Colonies to develop their constitution. George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention. James Madison introduced the Virginia Plan, which outlined a new Congress, made up of the House of Representatives and Senate, to prevent an abuse of power by any one branch of government. William Paterson introduced the New Jersey Plan, aimed at retaining an equal number of votes for each state, regardless of the size and population. In the end, elements of both plans were adopted and the convention progressed.

At the convention, each state appointed delegates to attend and help develop a better and more effective constitution. According to Madison he wanted to “shift the United States from a confederated basis of equal state representation to a “republican” basis of representation by population…” (Gilman, Graber and Whittington 95). Under this plan, states with a larger population would have a huge advantage in representation than those states with a smaller population. The problem with this however was that smaller states felt that they would be left powerless due to the bigger states controlling the show. A big change was proposed that, “Resolved that the Legislative, Executive and judicial powers of the several States, ought to be bound by oath to support the Articles of the Union” (Gilman, Graber and Whittington 96). This meant that the Virginia plan called for a national government of three branches: judicial, legislative and executive. The legislative branch then had the power to deny state laws. This plan suggested that the legislative branch be made up of two houses again represented by population depending on the states. The concept of checks and balances can be seen coming into place here, to help keep the government in one branch from getting too powerful. His ideas were smart but the outcome of a republic was not what the states and people

This solution was to become known as the Great Compromise. In this plan, designed to be acceptable to both large and small states, the people would be represented proportionally in one branch of the legislature, called the House of Representatives (the lower legislative house). The states would be represented in another house called the Senate (the upper house). In the lower house, each state had a representative for everyone delegate. In the upper house, each state was guaranteed two senators, regardless of its

The framers knew from the beginning they wanted a legislative branch. There were several proposals on how it should be run. The first proposal, Drafted by James Madison was called the Virginia plan. In this plan a bicameral house would be established and how many members each state would get was based solely on the population of the state.

Among many of the other debates throughout the Constitutional Convention came the argument over the type of government and representation in that government. First came the Virginia Plan, created by both Edmund Randolph and James Madison. This plan included three branches of government: Executive, Judicial, and a Legislative branch. The Executive Branch would carry out the laws and the Judicial Branch would act as a court system. Finally, the Legislative Branch would be split into two different houses, upper and lower.

With a final decision of five to four, the states passed the Great Compromise and it was officially adopted in July 16, 1781. The Great Compromise proposed that the United States would have a bi-cameral legislature instead of an unicameral legislature. There would be two houses: an upper house known as The Senate, and a lower house as The House of Representatives. There would be two senators per state, which favored the equality that small states were longing for. The number of House of Representatives per state would depend on how populous the state was according to the decennial census, giving citizens in large states equal power to citizens of small states. Senators were to be appointed by the State legislatures and would have six-year terms. Whereas the members of The House of Representatives are elected by the public vote and have two-year terms.

The Virginia Plan proposed that there would be one chief executive chosen by national legislature and a two house legislative branch consisting of a lawmaking branch and the courts. States would have representation based on their respective populations in both branches. The New Jersey Plan proposed a chief executive elected by Congress and a single house legislature with the one state, one vote rule. Both plans gave the government taxing powers and a federal judiciary. (Keene, 2012)

The Great Compromise of 1787 was also known as the “Connecticut Compromise” which was named in honor of Roger Sherman. It was a system of congressional representation. This compromise would be with us still to this day. At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 there were three plans that were proposed, the Virginia plan, the New Jersey plan and the Great Compromise. The Virginia

During the drafting of the Constitution, there were a couple of key disagreements that emerged. First, delegates had to determine whether congress should consist of one or two houses. Second, they had to arbitrate whether representation in congress should be based on state's population, or if every state should have equal amounts of representatives. In an effort to resolve these disputes the delegates proposed two plans. One of them was known as the Virginia Plan, which proposed representation on population and a two-house Congress. On the other hand, the New Jersey plan proposed an equal number of representatives for each state and an one house Congress. This indifference led to the first compromise, or the Great Compromise. This compromise

During the constitutional convention, two plans were proposed to solve the problem of state representation in the government. The first of the two plans was the Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison and the second being the New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Patterson. Both plans consisted of three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. however, the New Jersey Plan allowed for multiple executives. Additionally, the Virginia Plan had a bicameral legislature, both houses based on state's’ population or its wealth. The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, has a unicameral legislature, with its single house giving a single vote to each state

The Virginia Plan sparked debate over its legislative representative proposals. The plan proposed representation of the states by population. This proposition favored the larger states. The Jersey Plan also known as the smaller state plan rallied for equal representation for all states. A compromise was finally reached. One house of the legislature would consist of two representatives from each state. This satisfied the small states. The second house of the legislature would consist of representatives based on population, thus satisfying the larger states. The establishment of a fair measure to apply taxation and representation in the legislature was described in the Federalist Papers: The Apportionment of Members among the States. The government would conduct a census that would prevent the states from understating their population for taxation and overstating their population for representation. The “Great Compromise” resolving the issue of representation did not mean that the federalists and anti-federalists had come to agreement on the Constitution.

When creating the Constitution, the Convention first began with the foundation of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Great Compromise was the solution to struggle of representation in the Legislative Branch during the U.S Constitutional Convention in 1787. The states with bigger populations like Virginia favored the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan called for representation based on the amount of people living in each state. Larger states favored this plan because they would have more power in making laws. On the other hand,