1787 was marked as an important period in the history of the United States. It was a very important and essential event for the Americans. The U.S. Constitutional Convention was about the political problems of the United States and the revision of the Articles of Confederation. It was a meeting to correct and improve the already existing laws.
The participants of the Convention decided to establish a new document, called the Constitution of USA. Connecticut Compromise is one of the substantive compromises at the Constitutional Convention (Bowen, 1966, p. 3).
Initially, Virginia delegation was reckoned to be the most successful at the Constitutional Convention but its proportional representation in the highest legislative authority was not satisfied with a sparsely populated state standing for the equal representation according to the plan of New Jersey.
The representatives from the Connecticut state, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, suggested a compromise (Bowen, 1966, p. 5). Since the highest legislative body, the Congress, consisted of two chambers, the first one, The House of Representatives, had to be presented by each state in the proportion to population. The second chamber, the Senate, presented two representatives from each state.
However, the delegates were in a hurry to get a new government established (Roche, 1961, p. 815). The Compromise was adopted after long debates. The Sherman’s proposal was included in the final draft of the Constitution, but still with minor changes. The modified form of this compromise became a part of the Constitution because it was not acceptable for large states, according to Benjamin Franklin.
Some requirements were added to the draft: George Mason insisted on the Bill of Rights to be included, Edmund Randolph claimed that the system of checks and balances was still undeveloped and Elbridzh Gerry also insisted on the Bill of Rights and criticized the overly strong executive power(Bowen, 1966, p. 14). The opponents’ discussions resulted in the compromise and the project of Constitution was sent to Congress.
According to Census Bureau data, the 2010 Census reported 308.7 million people in the United States, a 9.7 percent increase from the Census 2000 population of 281.4 million according to geographic levels such as regions, counties, metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, etc (Mackum, Wilson, 2011, p.1).
The population of smaller states greatly increased. This statistic can be compared to the census data of 1787, the time when some of the small states of the United States could not even be presented at the convent but the majority agreed the census of that year to be included into the legislation. It means that the adopted legislation worked out in the positive direction and that it was suitable and accessible enough both for small and large states of America.
In the book Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America by Webb, it is described how it is possible to succeed in life and in the political sphere in particular due to the persistent egalitarianism, a strong sense of honor and fierce individualism (Webb, 2005). It can be compared to the specific description of the most decisive decade in the history of the United States (Ellis, 2002, p. 5).
Such factors as newspapers, broadsides, pamphlets and correspondence also have a big influence on the foundation of the political opinion of the government in the process of adaptation of some legislation (Freeman, 2001, p. 28).
Despite all the advantages and disadvantages of the adapted legislation, the Constitution of the United States exists nowadays as “a vivid demonstration of effective democratic political action and of the forging of a national elite which literally persuaded its countrymen to hoist themselves by their own boot straps” (Roche, 1961, p.816).
Reference List
Bowen D. C. (1966). Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787. USA: Boston: Little Brown and Company.
Ellis J. J. (2002). Founding brothers: the revolutionary generation. USA: Virginia: Vintage Books.
Freeman B. J. (2001). Affairs of honor: national politics in the new republic. Yale University Press.
Mackum P. & Wilson S. (2011). Population distribution and change: 2000 to 2010. 2010 Census Brief, pp. 1-11.
Roche P.J. (1961). The American political science review. The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action, 55(4), 799-816.
Webb H.J. (2005). Born fighting: how the Scots-Irish shaped America. USA: Boston: Broadway: Books.