Yesterday, we covered how delegates called for a Bill of Rights to be part of this new and stronger federal government being revised at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Today we looked at some other impressive compromises to come from this convention that impact the structure of our unique democracy and America's democratic republic to this very day. The Articles of Confederation, or the first federal government of the United States, was far too weak because it did not accord enough power over the states to the federal government. At the convention, "The Great Compromise" produced a system of government that both large and small states could ratify. The Great Compromise combined elements of both the VA Plan and the NJ Plan by including two legislative bodies, or a bicameral government, one with proportional representation and the other with equal representation. The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788.
Participants in the Constitutional Convention also compromised by creating the electoral college and the three fifths compromise. The electoral college is a process in which state electors decide the winner of presidential elections. The three fifths compromise determined that enslaved people would be counted as less than free people in a state's political representation.