196k views
4 votes
When it came to ""representation"" the delegates to the Constitutional

Convention argued over whether the number of representatives in the
Congress should be equal for the state, or based on their populations. The
compromise made on this topic included:

User Fuzzi
by
7.9k points

1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

The Constitutional Convention's compromise on representation resulted in the Great Compromise, which established a bicameral Congress with equal representation in the Senate and population-based representation in the House. Additionally, the Three-Fifths Compromise dictated that three out of every five enslaved individuals would count towards a state's population for House representation.

Step-by-step explanation:

The compromise made on the topic of "representation" was a result of extensive debates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Here, delegates grappled with creating a fair representation system in Congress. The key challenge was to balance the interests of both large and small states, which led to the formulation of the Great Compromise (also known as the Connecticut Compromise).

The Great Compromise established that Congress would be a bicameral institution – comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate, all states would have equal representation, with two senators each. This provided a balance of power favoring smaller states. Conversely, in the House of Representatives, representation would be determined by the population of the state, which offered more influence to larger states.

The Three-Fifths Compromise was another critical aspect of state representation deliberations at the Convention. This compromise was a response to conflicts over how enslaved people should be counted when determining a state's population for representation in the House of Representatives. Under this compromise, three out of every five enslaved people in a state were counted towards the population, which influenced the number of seats a state would hold in the House. This compromise disproportionately benefited Southern, slaveholding states by enhancing their political power in Congress without providing enslaved individuals with any rights.

Overall, these compromises allowed for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by balancing the power between large and small states, and addressing the contentious issue of slavery in legislative representation.

User Pepijn Olivier
by
8.2k points