Im doing a history project for school and i was wondering.....?

Question

When the Federalists were trying to get the constitution ratified did they already have the great compromise.?

im wondering because i have to do a debate on should the constitution be ratified. and im a federalist. So i was wondering in my debate if i could use the great compromise? or if it hadn't happened yet.

Answer 1

The Great Compromise of 1787 was the plan that formed our current legislative branch of government. In short, the small states wanted a legislative body where each state had an equal number of representatives. Larger states argued that they should have a greater say, especially in matters of finance or defense, as they had a greater number of people. The larger states wanted a legislature where the number of representatives for a state was based on the state's population.

The compromise was to set different requirements for each house of Congress. There would be an upper house where every state had an equal number of representatives (the Senate) and a lower house where representation was based on a state's population (the House of Representatives).

Using population as a criteria for representation lead to a further complication: what to do with slaves? The southern states, who had a majority of the enslaved population, thought that slaves should be counted towards the population figures used to determine representation. The northern states, who had very few enslaved people, argued that slaves were not considered to be part of the population, and so could not be counted.

The compromise that was reached on this issue is sometimes referred to as the "three-fifths clause." States were allowed to count three-fifths of their enslaved population in the figures that determined representation in the House.

All of this happened during the Constitutional Convention in the summer of 1787. Ratification came later.

You can find more information on this topic at:
- The National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_history.html
- The U.S. State Department: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/constitution/convention.htm
- The U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Great_Compromise.htm

You can also find tons of information in your school or local public library, and you can get a lot of reasearch help from the librarians there.

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Answer 2

J. G. provided a very good answer. Just to make it absolutely clear, the Connecticut (or great) Compromise was developed during the time of the convention and became part of the Constitution which was proposed to Congress.

Then Congress proposed the Constitution to the States and it was after that that the debates for ratification occurred.

So it is a fact that the Compromise was fully completed prior to the debates concerning ratification.

Answer 3

Depends how you want to define worst presidency? Do you mean: 1- which administration preformed the most illegal/corrupt actions? 2- which administration was least effective in getting legislation passed? 3- which administration cause America to suffer the most? The worst Presidents on most historians' lists are: Carter Filmore Grant Buchanan Hayes Harding 32, white

Answer 4

the key point is that compromise was developed during the time of the convention...

Answer 5

it hadn't happened yet.