The Three Great Compromises :: essays research papers

The Three Great Compromises The United States of America was founded on the basis of compromise, but what does compromise really mean? According to the Webster's New World Dictionary compromise means "an adjustment of opposing principles". Political systems use compromises in daily life. The Three Great Compromises that occurred early in this nation's government were the Connecticut Compromise, the 3/5 Compromise, and finally the Commerce & Slave Trade Compromise. Were it not for these compromises the United States could still be governed under the Articles of Conferderation. The Connecticut Compromise was the most important compromise in the history of the U.S. government. The representatives from each state were going to change the government totally, from powerful state governments to a powerful central government, which they vowed not to do when they declared independence from England. Rhode Island was so disgusted with the idea of changing the government that they did not even come to the meeting. Finally after all the debating and each state getting their say, they "compromised" on a plan where they would have two governmental houses, one being the House of Representatives and the second being the Senate, with the Senate being the stronger of the two houses. The House of Representatives was based on each state's population, that is the more people in the state the more representatives that state would get. The Senate said that regardless of the state's population each state would get two representatives all with equal say. The 3/5 Compromise was mainly about slaves. The issue in this compromise was should slaves be counted for determining representation for each state? The North did not want them to be counted because they were considered possessions, not citizens, and that meant less representation for them. The South, on the other hand, wanted them to be counted because that meant that they could pass laws more beneficial to the South since they would have more representation. So they "compromised" and said that each slave counted 3/5 of a person. The final compromise was the Commerce & Slave Trade Compromise. The issue here was should Congress be able to regulate trade and should the United States continue with slave trading? The North felt that Congress should control trade and put an end to slave trading. The South was fearful of Northern jealousy of Southern agriculture trade with England, and the South was also wary of Congress