Connecticut Compromise
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The Connecticut Compromise of 1787 in the United States, also known as the Great Compromise, was struck in the creation of legislative bodies. The Great Compromise was to work out the number of representation each state would have in congress. After much arguing, the representatives decided that the Virginia Plan (a plan which was to be based on population) and the New Jersey Plan (a plan which called for equal representation) were to be combined. Roger Sherman, from Connecticut, played a large role in constructing the Compromise, creating the Senate and House of Representatives.
This was a big issue in the new United States. The small states, with low populations, wanted their voices in the governing of the US to equal to those of larger and more populated states like Virginia and New York. The more populous states, like Virginia, wanted representation in proportion to population. This way, they would have more control over what happened in America.
This resulted in a compromise that ended in the creation of the House of Representatives which was what the larger states wanted and the Senate which placated the smaller ones. Two representatives per state in the Senate and representatives according to population in the House. This also led to the Three-Fifths Compromise which gave slave owning states (whose populations of whites were low) the right to count each slave in their state as three-fifths of a person.
[edit] In popular culture
A Bob Dylan song performed by John Prine entitled "The Great Compromise" was released in the 1960s, lamenting the loss of a woman who betrayed George Washington. The song was a metaphor for the perceived state of the USA at the time, with the title alluding to the notion that the Great Compromise should never have happened. The song's chorus is as follows:
- I used to sleep at the foot of Old Glory
- And awake in the dawn's early light.
- But much to my surprise
- When I opened my eyes
- I was a delegate of the great compromise.
[edit] References
- Appleby, Joyce, Brinkley, Alan, and McPherson, James (2003). The American Journey, Fifth Edition. Glenco/McGraw.
