The Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was thought to have the goal of revising the Articles of Confederation, which had outlined the newly formed county’s government since the revolution. However, the first thing the representatives voted on as they entered Independence Hall was a compromise of secrecy, to let no word of their work or discussions leave the building. This decision was made in order to let the representatives preform at their best without the fear of public opinion, as well as to allow them time to totally reconstruct the government. This secrecy was condemned by some such as Patrick Henry of Virginia, who was quoted in “Are We to be a Nation” as saying “I smell a rat”. Because of this small compromise to secrecy, some of the
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This compromise came out of two separate plans drafted by Virginia and New Jersey. The Virginia plan outlined a representation system for government based on population, meaning that the higher the population of the state, the more representatives it deserved. This plan would cause an overwhelming under-representation of smaller states like New Jersey, which responded by issuing the New Jersey plan in which all states received equal representation. These two extremes were compromised in the work of Roger Sherman, who drafted a plan for a bi-caramel legislature in which one houses representation was based on population while the other provided each state with equal representation. Today, these two houses of government are known as the House of Representatives, based on population, and the Senate, where each state receives two …show more content…
Before the Constitution, the states had no central power to regulate trade. As stated in “Are We to be a Nation” France was prepared to send 13 ambassadors to each state after the revolution because it anticipated their disunity. This idea of disunity proved true to an extent because most of the states regulated their own trade in different capacities prior to the assembly of the national government. The Commerce Compromise was influenced by the North and its largely industrial based economy. The representatives from the North desired export and import tariffs to increase purchases of domestic goods. The South resisted this idea for two reasons. The first of these reasons was that most of the South textiles and other products came from Europe at much cheaper prices than American goods. An import tax would increase the amount they would have to spend for goods. The second of these reasons was that an import tax would raise money for the national government and expand its power, an idea which some major anti-federalists like Patrick Henry of Virginia opposed. In order to compromise, the idea of an export tariff was eliminated to appease the South’s cotton export based economy. In addition, a compromise was reached on how commerce bills were to be passed in congress, by simple
This compromise came out of two separate plans drafted by Virginia and New Jersey. The Virginia plan outlined a representation system for government based on population, meaning that the higher the population of the state, the more representatives it deserved. This plan would cause an overwhelming under-representation of smaller states like New Jersey, which responded by issuing the New Jersey plan in which all states received equal representation. These two extremes were compromised in the work of Roger Sherman, who drafted a plan for a bi-caramel legislature in which one houses representation was based on population while the other provided each state with equal representation. Today, these two houses of government are known as the House of Representatives, based on population, and the Senate, where each state receives two …show more content…
Before the Constitution, the states had no central power to regulate trade. As stated in “Are We to be a Nation” France was prepared to send 13 ambassadors to each state after the revolution because it anticipated their disunity. This idea of disunity proved true to an extent because most of the states regulated their own trade in different capacities prior to the assembly of the national government. The Commerce Compromise was influenced by the North and its largely industrial based economy. The representatives from the North desired export and import tariffs to increase purchases of domestic goods. The South resisted this idea for two reasons. The first of these reasons was that most of the South textiles and other products came from Europe at much cheaper prices than American goods. An import tax would increase the amount they would have to spend for goods. The second of these reasons was that an import tax would raise money for the national government and expand its power, an idea which some major anti-federalists like Patrick Henry of Virginia opposed. In order to compromise, the idea of an export tariff was eliminated to appease the South’s cotton export based economy. In addition, a compromise was reached on how commerce bills were to be passed in congress, by simple