Examples Of Compromises During The Constitutional Convention

During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates had to come to many compromises to satisfy all states. For this reason, many historians say that the constitution is a document of compromises. There were many states represented during the Constitution, both small and large. Three of these compromises were the Virginia plan, the New Jersey plan, and the Great Compromise. Edmund Randolf and James Madison led the Virginia plan. The Virginia plan called for a strong central government with three branches. These branches were the legislative branch that passed laws, the executive branch that carried them out, and the judicial branch that made sure that they were carried out fairly. They also proposed that the legislative branch would consist

This differed from the articles of confederation which gave every state, regardless of population, one vote in congress. Secondly, the New Jersey plan was proposed by William Patterson, and his idea had the support of the smaller states, since they had strongly objected the Virginia plan in fear of being overcome by the larger states. Consequently, supporters of the Virginia plan said that it was only fair that a state with more people would have more representatives. Similar to the Virginia plan, the New Jersey plan called for three branches but provided for a legislature that only had one house. Finally, the great compromise was proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut who hoped to satisfy both large and small states before the convention fell apart. His proposal called for a two house legislature with a house of representatives as the Lower house and the Senate as the upper. The House of Representatives would be elected by popular vote and the Senate would be chosen by the state