Essay On The Great Compromise

There are many compromises that have shaped the Constitution and made an impact on History. One of the most important compromises was the Great Compromise, which was also referred to as the Connecticut Compromise. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth proposed this Compromise. According to Bianco and Cannon, the plan suggested establishing a Congress with two houses. The Senate would have two senators from each state and in the House of Representatives each state’s number of representatives would be based on its population. This Compromise offered a solution to the tension between larger and smaller states over their representation in the newly proposed Senate. The larger states believed that representation should have been based on the contribution each state made to the nation’s finances and defense. The smaller states agreed that the only fair plan was one of equal representation. Without this Compromise being adopted, the Constitution would not have been passed. There were a few alternatives to keep in mind… Delegates from smaller states supported the New Jersey plan, under which each state would send the same number of representatives to Congress while delegates from the larger and more

popular states favored the Virginia Plan, which called from each state to have a different number of representatives based on the state’s population. This plan proposed by Roger Sherman delegates from both larger and small states happy and was adopted to help create a solution to the strain between states.
Another important compromise was the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which limited the expansion of slavery and kept the overall balance between slave states and free states.

This Compromise helped ease tensions for a while but the issue kept building on. Slave owners were frustrated because the Underground Railroad was successful which lead to slaves being able to escape and head north. Southern states agreed to admit California as a free state as an alternative but only if Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required northern states to give, escaped slaves back to their owners. Congress overturned the Missouri Compromise and allowed each state to decide whether they wanted to be a slave or free state. It was necessary to compromise this issue because slavery was

wrong.
Last but not least the Compromise of 1850 was important because it passed laws that dealt with the issue of slavery. California requested permission to enter the union as a free state in 1849 and that upset the balance between the free and slave states in the U.S. Senate. The Fugitive Slave Act was amended and the slave trade in Washington, D.C. was abolished. Therefore, California entered the Union as a free state. In exchange for California becoming a free state, the south was guaranteed that no federal restrictions on slavery would be placed on Utah or New Mexico. Texas lost its boundary claims in New Mexico, but Congress compensated Texas with $10 million. Although slavery was maintained in the nation’s capital, slave trade was prohibited which lead to the fugitive slave law being passed. To look at the Compromise of 1850 again…The North got California admitted as a free state, Slave trade was prohibited in Washington, D.C., and Texas lost its boundary dispute with New Mexico. The South got no slavery restrictions in Utah or New Mexico territories, slaveholding was permitted in Washington, D.C., Texas got $10 million, and they also had the Fugitive Slave Law passed. Each side got benefits but the north gained more. It was necessary to compromise on each of those issues because it was aimed at resolving the territorial and slavery controversies arising from the Mexican-American War.