Constitutional Convention Compromises

Constitutional Convention Resolutions

• Ratification Requirement: $9 ext{ out of } 13$ states were needed to ratify the new Constitution (a supermajority of 69 ext{%} or more than two-thirds).

Four Major Compromises

1. Representation in the Legislative Branch

• Virginia Plan (Large States): Proposed a bicameral legislature with both houses based on state population.
• New Jersey Plan (Small States): Proposed a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state, similar to the Articles of Confederation.
• Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise): Created a bicameral legislature:
  • House of Representatives: Representation based on state population.
  • Senate: Equal representation, with each state receiving $2$ senators.

2. Counting Slaves for Representation

• Three-fifths Compromise: Slaves were counted as $3/5$ of a person for both taxation and determining a state's population for House representation and electoral votes.

3. Slave Trade and Fugitive Slaves

• Slave Trade Clause: Congress was prohibited from banning the international slave trade for $20$ years ($1788$ to $1808$).
• Fugitive Slave Clause: Required states to return runaway slaves to their owners, as slaves were considered property.

4. Presidential Election System

• Electoral College: Established an indirect system for electing the president, where electors chosen by each state would cast votes. This system was a compromise, partially addressing concerns about direct popular vote, legislative election, or state legislature selection. It disproportionately favors smaller states due to the influence of Senate representation (each state gets electoral votes equal to its total number of representatives + senators).