Connecticut Compromise Totally Explained

Everything about The Connecticut Compromise totally explained

The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, was an essential agreement between large and small states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It proposed a bicameral legislature, resulting in the current United States Senate and House of Representatives.

Context

On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph of the Virginia delegation proposed the creation of a bicameral legislature, or one consisting of a lower and upper house. Membership in the lower house was to be allocated in proportion to state population, and candidates were to be nominated and elected by the people of each state. Membership in the upper house was to be allocated in the same way, candidates were to be nominated by the state legislatures and elected by the members of the lower house. This proposal was known as the Virginia Plan.
Less populous states like Delaware were afraid that such an arrangement would result in their voices and interests being drowned out by the larger states. In response, on June 15, 1787, William Paterson of the New Jersey delegation proposed the creation of a legislature consisting of a single house. Each state was to be allotted one representative in this body, regardless of population. Despite the unicameral proposal, there was never really a question of having at least one of the house be based on population; the New Jersey plan was merely a counterpoint, not a practicable proposal.

The Compromise

On July 16, 1787, Roger Sherman (1721-1793) and Oliver Ellsworth (1745 – 1807), both of the Connecticut delegation, forged a compromise for a bicameral legislature consisting of a lower and upper house.
In favor of the larger states, membership in the lower house, as in the Virginia Plan, was to be allocated in proportion to state population and candidates were to be nominated and elected by the people of each state. A census of all inhabitants of the United States was to be taken every 10 years. Also all bills for raising taxes, spending or appropriating money, setting the salaries of Federal officers were to originate in the lower house and be unamendable by the upper house. In exchange, membership in the upper house, however, was more similar to the New Jersey Plan and was to be allocated two seats to each state, regardless of size, with members being chosen by the state legislatures.
The compromise passed after eleven days of debate by one vote — five to four.
By and large the compromise was accepted into the final form of the U.S. Constitution. The provision that all fiscal bills should start in the House was incorporated as Art. 1, §7, Clause 1 (known as the Origination Clause), albeit in a limited form applying only to tax bills and allowing the Senate to amend.

Aftermath

This agreement allowed deliberations to continue and thus led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which further wrangled the issue of popular representation in the House. More populous Southern States were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free, non-Native American people towards population counts and allocations.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Connecticut Compromise'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://connecticut_compromise.totallyexplained.com">Connecticut Compromise Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.