The Connecticut Compromise created a distinct form of federal government. A national government consolidates the states into a single government with authority over the states and their citizens. A federal system of government mixes these two distinct forms of government.
The founders considered various versions of a federal system at the Constitutional Convention. The Virginia Plan proposed a federal system that divided and separated the powers and operations of the national and state governments so that the national government was of a purely national character, but states retained authority and responsibility over specific issues that the national government could not contravene.
The Connecticut Compromise interjected federal elements the equal representation of the states into the national government and paved the way for other federal elements such as the Electoral College to be added as well Zuckert By giving the states equal representation in the Senate, the Connecticut Compromise appeared to give the states a significant role in checking and balancing power in the national government.
Yet other constitutional provisions released senators from state control to act independently. Unlike representatives under the Articles of Confederation and Constitutional Convention, the Constitution requires that senators be paid by the national government, serve six-year terms the longest of any elected federal official , and vote individually rather than as a state bloc. These three constitutional elements gave senators a certain independence from the state legislatures that elected them to deliberate with other senators and vote according to what they thought would benefit the states as members of the union.
In other words, the structure of the Senate is federal, but the operations of the Senate are national Malbin Other professions included merchants, manufacturers, shippers, land speculators, bankers or financiers, three physicians, a minister, and several small farmers.
Of the twenty-five who owned slaves, sixteen depended on slave labor to run the plantations or other businesses that formed the mainstay of their income. Most of the delegates were landowners with substantial holdings, and most were comfortably wealthy. George Washington and Governor Morris were among the wealthiest men in the entire country. The Founding Fathers had strong educational backgrounds at some of the colonial colleges or abroad.
Some, like Franklin and Washington, were largely self-taught or learned through apprenticeship. Others had obtained instruction from private tutors or at academies. About half of the men had attended or graduated from college. Some men held medical degrees or advanced training in theology. Most delegates were educated in the colonies, but several were lawyers who had been trained at the Inns of Court in London.
Several notable Founders did not participate in the Constitutional Convention. Thomas Jefferson was abroad, serving as the minister to France. John Adams was in Britain, serving as minister to that country, but he wrote home to encourage the delegates. Most were successful in subsequent careers, although seven suffered serious financial reverses that left them in or near bankruptcy.
Most of the group continued to render public service, particularly to the new government they had helped to create. At the Constitutional Convention, several plans were introduced. While waiting for the Convention to formally begin, James Madison sketched out his initial draft, which became known as the Virginia Plan.
It also reflected his views as a strong nationalist. The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers. Rotation in office and recall were two principles applied to the lower house of the national legislature. It was a confederation, or treaty, among the thirteen states. There was to be a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and a House of Delegates.
The House would have one member for every one thousand inhabitants. The House would elect Senators who would serve by rotation for four years and represent one of four regions. Congress would meet in a joint session to elect a President, and it would also appoint members of the cabinet. Congress, in joint session, would serve as the court of appeal of last resort in disputes between states.
Pinckney did also provide for a supreme Federal Judicial Court. The Pinckney plan was not debated, but it may have been referred to by the Committee of Detail for early draft. Congress would meet in a joint session to elect a President, and would also appoint members of the cabinet. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state had equal representation in Congress—one vote per state. This position reflected the belief that the states were independent entities that could enter and leave the United States on their own volition.
It also was known as the British Plan, because of its resemblance to the British system of strong centralized government.
The plan featured a bicameral legislature, the lower house elected by the people for three years. The upper house would be elected by electors chosen by the people and would serve for life. The plan also gave the Governor, an executive elected by electors for a life-term of service, an absolute veto over bills. State governors would be appointed by the national legislature, and the national legislature had veto power over any state legislation.
Hamilton presented his plan to the Convention on June 18, The plan was perceived as a well-thought-out plan, but it was not considered because it resembled the British system too closely. To resolve this stalemate, Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, forged the Connecticut Compromise. In a sense it blended the Virginia large-state and New Jersey small-state proposals.
Ultimately, its main contribution was determining the method for apportionment of the Senate and retaining a federal character in the constitution. What was ultimately included in the Constitution was a modified form of this plan. In the Committee of Detail, Benjamin Franklin added the requirement that revenue bills originate in the House. As such, the Senate would bring a federal character to the government, not because senators were elected by state legislatures, but because each state was equally represented.
The Virginia delegation took the initiative to frame the debate by immediately drawing up and presenting a proposal, for which delegate James Madison is given chief credit. It was, however, Edmund Randolph, the Virginia governor at the time, who officially put it before the convention on May 29, in the form of 15 resolutions.
The scope of the resolutions, going well beyond tinkering with the Articles of Confederation, succeeded in broadening the debate to encompass fundamental revisions to the structure and powers of the national government.
The resolutions proposed, for example, a new form of national government having three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. One contentious issue facing the convention was the manner in which large and small states would be represented in the legislature.
The contention was whether there would be equal representation for each state regardless of its size and population, or proportionate to population giving larger states more votes than less-populous states. The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral legislature, a legislative branch with two chambers. This legislature would contain the dual principles of rotation in office and recall, applied to the lower house of the national legislature.
Large states supported this plan, while smaller states generally opposed it. In addition to dealing with legislative representation, the Virginia Plan ed other issues as well, with many provisions that did not make it into the Constitution that emerged.
It called for a national government of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The people would elect members for one of the two legislative chambers. Members of that chamber would then elect the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures. The legislative branch would then choose the executive branch. The terms of office were unspecified, but the executive and members of the popularly elected legislative chamber could not be elected for an undetermined time afterward.
The legislative branch would have the power to negate state laws if they were deemed incompatible with the articles of union. The concept of checks and balances was embodied in a provision that a council composed of the executive and selected members of the judicial branch could veto legislative acts.
An unspecified legislative majority could override their veto. Paterson was also known as the primary author of the New Jersey Plan during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The less populous states were adamantly opposed to giving most of the control of the national government to the more populous states, and so proposed an alternative plan that would have kept the one-vote-per-state representation under one legislative body from the Articles of Confederation. This position reflected the belief that the states were independent entities, and as they entered the United States of America freely and individually, so they remained.
The plan proposed that the Articles of Confederation should be amended as follows:. Ultimately, the New Jersey Plan was rejected as a basis for a new constitution. During the Constitutional Convention, the most contentious disputes revolved around the composition of the Presidency and the Judiciary. Most of the convention was spent deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, and judiciary were not heavily disputed. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia : During the Constitutional Convention, some the most contentious disputes revolved around the composition of the Presidency and the Judiciary.
Was that the intention of the Founding Fathers? Edwards is doubtful since, as he points out, the majority of Americans at the time of Constitutional Congress came from rural areas—not urban. This is because equal-state representation in the Senate is specifically protected in the Constitution. And no state is likely to willingly give up their say in the Senate.
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The plan was at first rejected, but then approved by a slim margin on July 23,
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