Notes for page 15d
Conn. Comp. (Connecticut Compromise)
Senate: 2 people from each state no matter the size
House of Rep.: diff. numbers depending on population
> Know the population by having a census every 10 years
The Conn. Comp. balanced state and popular sovereignty
other issues:
(1) who would be allowed to vote?
House of Rep.: any white man who paid taxes
Senate: elected by state legislatures
President: elected by electoral college
(2) slavery
strong opinions: political, not a moral, question
Whether slavery is legal or not was not discussed as the right thing to do or not, it was decided
based on politics: keeping things the same (status quo) like cheap labor on plantations, and
social classes.
The decision to keep slavery legal was a “tragic, constitutional compromise” since Virginia (a slave state) would have probably agreed to limits on slavery.
slave states actually grew more powerful
FUGITIVE CLAUSE: governments of free states had to help recapture runaway slaves who had escaped
THREE-FIFTHS FORMULA: slaves weren’t counted as people in terms of rights, but slave states wanted to count them as people to increase their representatives in Congress. As a compromise—the text rightly call is “inhumane”—slaves were counted as 3/5 of a free person to calculate the number of representatives.
The Constitution created a national legislature that
(1) could pass the supreme law of the land,
(2) could raise taxes, and
(3) had greater control over commerce.
38 of the remaining 41 delegates signed the proposed Constitution.
Next: convincing people in the states to accept it
Senate: 2 people from each state no matter the size
House of Rep.: diff. numbers depending on population
> Know the population by having a census every 10 years
The Conn. Comp. balanced state and popular sovereignty
other issues:
(1) who would be allowed to vote?
House of Rep.: any white man who paid taxes
Senate: elected by state legislatures
President: elected by electoral college
(2) slavery
strong opinions: political, not a moral, question
Whether slavery is legal or not was not discussed as the right thing to do or not, it was decided
based on politics: keeping things the same (status quo) like cheap labor on plantations, and
social classes.
The decision to keep slavery legal was a “tragic, constitutional compromise” since Virginia (a slave state) would have probably agreed to limits on slavery.
slave states actually grew more powerful
FUGITIVE CLAUSE: governments of free states had to help recapture runaway slaves who had escaped
THREE-FIFTHS FORMULA: slaves weren’t counted as people in terms of rights, but slave states wanted to count them as people to increase their representatives in Congress. As a compromise—the text rightly call is “inhumane”—slaves were counted as 3/5 of a free person to calculate the number of representatives.
The Constitution created a national legislature that
(1) could pass the supreme law of the land,
(2) could raise taxes, and
(3) had greater control over commerce.
38 of the remaining 41 delegates signed the proposed Constitution.
Next: convincing people in the states to accept it