The Compromises of the Constitution

Pair Share

Describe a time in your life when it was beneficial to compromise with someone else.

Today’s Standards:• CA 11.1.2 Analyze the

ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers' philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.

Common Core Standards

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Objective:

•Students will be able to analyze the debates on the drafting of the Constitution by predicting the compromise to three conflicts.

Essential Question

What were the issues that led to the formation of the constitution and how were they resolved?

Film Clip: Debates in the Constitutional Convention

Introduction

• You will learn about three conflicts delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to resolve in order to create the Constitution.

• After you read about the background information for each conflict, discuss with your group the critical thinking question and guess which resolution was decided upon.

• Please have one person from your group pick up a white board, a white board pen and an eraser.

• Write your team number on the top right corner of your white board.

• When indicated to do so, you will write down your group’s choice on the white board.

• When I say answer, you must immediately show me your white board.

• Points will be given to those groups who get the correct answer. Be sure you can give your rational for the choice you made.

Directions

Question #1

• Background Information

• One of the hottest debates in the Constitutional Convention was deciding how many representatives each state would receive in the new Congress. Congress has a lot of power in the government because they make all the laws for the nation.

• The small states believed that it would be fair for all states, regardless of population, if each state had an equal number of representatives.

• The larger states felt that representation should be based on population. They felt the states with more people should have more representatives in Congress.

• This was the most difficult problem to resolve.

Critical Thinking Question #1

•If you were delegates to the Constitutional Convention, what do you think would be the best way to resolve the problem of representation in Congress?

Discuss with your group and choose one of the following solutions:

• A. Have representation in Congress based on population.

• B. Have an equal number of congressmen from each state.

• C. Create a congress with two parts. One part will be based on population and the other based on an equal number of representatives per state.

• D. Redraw the boundaries of the state so that the population is equal in all states. Then base Representatives in Congress on an equal number of representatives per state.

•Please take notes on your Cornell Notes Template with the following information…

New Jersey PlanEach state gets an

equal # of representatives

ProblemHow should statesBe represented in

Congress?

Virginia PlanBase it on population –Larger states get more

representatives

CompromiseRepresentatives in SenateBased on New Jersey Plan

And representatives in House Based on Virginia Plan.

Proposals

The Great Compromise

Film Clip: The Great Compromise

Congress has two branches:

• House of Representatives based on population

• Senate= 2 representatives per state

Pair-Share

•Who are your State representatives for the Senate and the House?

Question #2• Background Information • Until 1863 slavery was legal in the United States. The

Southern States were mostly made up of agricultural businesses like cotton and tobacco. They relied on slavery for their prosperity.

• The Northern States were mostly made up of manufacturing companies. Slaves were not necessary in the North. Many northerners also disagreed with the idea of slavery.

• Delegates from Northern and Southern states at the Constitutional Convention disagreed on how slaves should be counted in the population.

• The population of a state was very important for two reasons: (1) It determined how many representatives the state would get in the House of Representatives, and (2) It determined how much tax would be paid by the state to the federal government.

• Thus, whether slaves were to be counted in the population would have major impact on a state’s power in Congress and on the amount of tax a state would have to pay.

• If you were delegates to the Constitutional Convention, what do you think would be the best was to resolve the problem of how to count slaves in the population?

Critical Thinking Question #2

Discuss with your group and choose one of the following solutions:

• A. Let each state with slaves decide whether they are to be counted in the population or not. The population counts, whether they included slaves or not, would be used for both representation in Congress and tax purposes.

• B. Count slaves as 3/5 a person for population.

• C. Count slaves for taxes but not representation until 1820, after which they will be counted for both.

• D. Count slaves for representation but not for taxed until 1820, after which they will be counted for both.

•Please take notes on your Cornell Notes Template with the following information…

The Three-Fifths Compromise

• 3 out of 5 slaves would be counted in the population of a state for the purpose of determining both House representation and direct taxes.

Question #3• Background Information

• Two other sources of conflicts between the Northern and Southern delegates also involved slavery.

• First, delegates faced a difficult decision about whether to allow slave trading in the United States. Southerners did not want Congress to be able to make laws concerning business and trade because they feared that Congress might outlaw the slave trade.

• Northerners, on the other hand, wanted Congress to be able to pass laws that would help business and manufacturing.

• In addition, Northern and Southern delegates argued over what should happen to runaway slaves. Southerners believed that since slaves were property, runaways to the North should be returned to their owners. Northerners thought that slaves who ran away to free territory ought to be allowed to remain free. These were very difficult problems for the delegates to resolve.

• If you were delegates to the Constitutional Convention, what do you think would be the best was to resolve the problem of whether to permit slave trading and what to do with runaway slaves?

Critical Thinking Question #3

Discuss with your group and choose one of the following solutions:

• A. Do not allow Congress to stop slave trading for 20 years. Runaways to free territory are not free since they are considered by law to be property.

• B. Allow Congress to restrict slave trade. Runaways to free territory can be claimed by their owners, but Northern officials are not forced by law to return slaves themselves.

• C. Allow Congress to restrict slave trade. Runaways to free territory must be returned to their owners.

• D. The Constitution should make no decisions about these issues. Leave it to individual states to decide what to do about these matters.

•Please take notes on your Cornell Notes Template with the following information…

The Commerce Compromise

Congress had the power to regulate interstate and foreign commerce as well as to levy tariffs on imports. But Congress would not be able to tax exports.

Congress was forbidden to restrict the importation of slaves for a period of 20 years (until 1808).

Congress could, however, levy a tax as high as $10 on each slave brought into the country during the period of time.

Runaway slaves had to be returned to their owners.

Wrap-Up Activity

• Write three questions on the left side of your notes. Be sure to include higher level questions.

• I will call on a random student to ask a question and another to answer the question.

• Homework: Complete a paragraph summary on your notes beginning with the topic sentence: There were many critical issues that led to the formation of the constitution.