What were the two biggest issues at the Constitutional Convention and the two Compromises to help solve them?
1 Answer
Disagreement between large and small states regarding how the states should be represented (each had a different method in mind). The solution was the Great Compromise (to be explained below).
Explanation:
In the the year 1787, there was a crucial meeting taking place which would determine the next step regarding how the government was to be run in the United States.
For instance, prior to the meeting, the United States used to be ran according to the Articles of Confederation (which was like our first Constitution).
Moreover, under the Articles of Confederation (1776-1778) the federal government didn't have much power over the states.
Instead, the states were the ones with the power and control (which is like the analogy of the children running the house and the father not being able to do anything).
Thus, in 1787, in Philadelphia, the Constitutional Convention was held in order to write a new Constitution and this is where the Great Compromise comes in (also known as the Connecticut Compromise).
In addition, the Great Compromise centered mainly in how the small and large states were to be represented.
For instance, the big states thought that they should be represented based on population (their plan was called the Virginia Plan, which didn't work well for the small states).
On the other hand, the small states thought that they should all be represented equally (their plan was called the New Jersey Plan, which the large states weren't too happy about).
Moreover, in order to solve this quarrel, the members at the convention decided to create a two house Congress (also known as a bicameral legislature).
Furthermore, what this did was that it gave both the small and large states a bit of what they wanted.
For example, the Great Compromise helped found the House of Representatives (which means that representation was based on a state's population; the big states were happy about this).
However, they weren't the only ones. This is because the Great Compromise also helped found the Senate (which gave EACH state TWO representatives; it was equal).
In conclusion, the Constitutional Convention helped found a new form of government for the United States.
