Connecticut Compromise

(noun)

The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement that both large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The compromise defined, in part, the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by James Madison, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states.

Related Terms

Examples of Connecticut Compromise in the following topics:

  • The Representation Function

    • A compromise plan was adopted where representatives were chosen by the population and two senators were chosen by state governments.
    • A compromise plan was adopted and representatives were chosen by the population which benefited larger states.
    • The Connecticut Compromise gave every state , large and small, an equal vote in the Senate.
    • However, others argue that the framers intended for the Connecticut Compromise to construct the Senate so that each state had equal footing that was not based on population.

  • Constitutional Issues and Compromises

    • At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia, Pinckney, New Jersey, and Hamilton plans gave way to the Connecticut Compromise.
    • To resolve this stalemate, Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, forged the Connecticut Compromise.

  • Federalists and Antifederalists

    • The conflict threatened to end the Convention, but Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed the "Great Compromise" (or Connecticut Compromise) under which one house of Congress would be based on proportional representation, and the other house would be based on equal representation.
    • Eventually, the Compromise was accepted, and the Convention was saved.
    • Compromises were important in settling other disputes at the Convention.
    • The Three-Fifths Compromise designated that three-fifths of slave population would be counted toward representation in Congress.
    • In another compromise, the Congress agreed to ban slave trade after 1808.

  • The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

    • Compare and contrast the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Connecticut Compromise regarding the revision of the Articles of Confederation.

  • Amending the Constitution

    • The amendment process originally came with restrictions protecting some agreements that the Great Compromise had settled during the Constitutional Convention.
    • The Great Compromise (also called the Connecticut Compromise) was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
    • It called for a bicameral legislature along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states.This agreement led to the Three-Fifths Compromise, which meant less populous Southern states were allowed to count three-fifths of all non-free people toward population counts and allocations.

  • The Constitutional Convention

    • To resolve this stalemate, the Connecticut Compromise, forged by Roger Sherman from Connecticut, was proposed on June 11.
    • This committee helped work out a compromise: In exchange for this concession, the federal government's power to regulate foreign commerce would be strengthened by provisions that allowed for taxation of slave trades in the international market and that reduced the requirement for passage of navigation acts from two-thirds majorities of both houses of Congress to simple majority.
    • The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise between Southern and Northern states reached during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 in which three-fifths of the enumerated population of slaves would be counted for representation purposes regarding both the distribution of taxes and the apportionment of the members of the United States House of Representatives.

  • The House and the Senate: Differences in Responsibilities and Representation

    • The disparity between the most and least populous states has grown since the Connecticut Compromise, which granted each state two members of the Senate and at least one member of the House of Representatives, for a total minimum of three presidential Electors, regardless of population.
    • The Senate has traditionally been considered a less partisan chamber because it's relatively small membership might have a better chance to broker compromises.

  • Ratification of the Constitution

    • In order for all states to ratify, a compromise over a bill of rights had to be made.
    • The Constitution went into effect by the summer of 1788 after the following states had ratified the Constitution: Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York.

  • The Federalist Papers

    • By summer 1788, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York had ratified the Constitution, and it went into effect.

  • The Annapolis Convention

    • "New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and North Carolina had appointed commissioners who failed to arrive in Annapolis in time to attend the meeting, while Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia had taken no action at all.