The Great Compromise

Before:

When asked about The Great Compromise, I immediately think of the Senate and the House of Representatives.  When the country was trying to determine how much representation each state would have, there was a clash between larger states and smaller states.  Some states believed that it would be fair to have an equal amount of representatives, despite the size of the state.  Others believed that it would be fair to have a proportional amount of representatives, based on how many people resided in that state.  There was much argument about the Virginia plan versus the New Jersey plan and which was the better answer; therefore, the Great Compromise was proposed.  It stated that the Senate would have two representatives, while the House of Representatives would have a proportional amount.  This would satisfy both the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan.

        

After:

After looking at more sources, I have acquired more knowledge about this event.  The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, occurred at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the year of 1787.  There was dispute about whether the Virginia plan or the New Jersey plan would be honored.  The Virginia plan stated that each state would have a proportional amount of representatives, according to their population.  The New Jersey plan stated that all states would have an equal amount of representatives.  This sparked argument because smaller states, such as New Jersey, thought it would be unfair, since they would have fewer representatives.  In order to settle the clash, a plan was proposed by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth.  This plan would satisfy the ideas of both larger and smaller states.  This suggestion stated that there would be one branch with equal representatives, and one based on population.  The Senate would have two representatives from each state, and the House of Representatives would be based off of the population and three fifths of the slave population.

Reflect:

Evidently, the event majorly contributed to America’s history.  Still in effect today, the Great Compromise settled disputes and is now used to accurately represent the population of each state.  If this event had not occurred, there would have been massive amounts of chaos when trying to create laws.  States may have felt that they were being cheated and that they did not have as much of a say that they should have.  If this idea had not been offered, there would be disagreement between the larger states and the smaller states.  The nation would not be nearly as unified as it is now.  After researching this event, I have added to my previous knowledge and expanded my ideas of the Constitution.  Also, I had forgotten that one slave was only counted at 3/5 of a person.  Seeing this reminded me that although the compromise settled an issue between the states, it did not better the nation with the idea of slaves.