Differences Between The Constitution And Compromises

There were many disagreements about the Constitution and compromises made for it. One discussion was regarding the president and the length of his term. Hamilton wanted the president to serve for life, like a monarch. However most others disagreed on this proposition. So the committee compromised and decided on a term that was a middle ground, not for life, but not too little of a time that the people would have too much power.
Another compromise was made regarding “the proper balance between the federal and state governments and between the interests of large and small states.” (p.258) First the Virginia Plan was suggested by Madison. In this plan, there was a two-house legislature, with representation in both houses based on state population. That was shut down due to the smaller states’ fear of larger states’ domination over the federal government. Due to that fear, the smaller states supported the New Jersey Plan, which “called for a single house Congress in which each state cast one vote…” (p.258) Eventually, a compromise was reached with a two-house congress with representation in one house based on population, and in the other house, representation equally distributed with two …show more content…
Most Southern states naturally wanted to keep slavery around while many Northern states wanted it abolished. The book tells us that there were both slaveholders and abolitionists at the convention. Each had their own opinion. A compromised was reached despite the differing opinions. Congress was not allowed to abolish the African Slave Trade for twenty years and states were required to return runaway slaves to their owners. Concerning the political representation of each state, three fifths of slaves would count toward the population with the compromise.
With every compromise and agreement in it, the Constitution was signed by thirty-nine of the forty-five delegates present at the