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The Constitutional Convention Of 1787

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At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the original purpose of the convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation. However, despite this original goal, many of the delegates sought the creation of a new government. Leading this movement were James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Both men sought change but had significantly different causes for action. Madison believed the best solution was for the executive power to be checked by the legislature as a means to best represent the people. Hamilton instead believed that the federal government should be based upon the British constitution and monarchy. At the convention 's conclusion, the delegates had created the U.S. Constitution which included several major political compromises …show more content…

Constitution. However, a significant issue plaguing the Great Compromise was how slaves would be represented in a state 's population. The Southern states wanted slaves to be counted as a part of the population for the purpose of representation. This would give the Southern states more power in the House of Representatives. However, the Southern states did not want slaves to count as part of the population for taxation purposes (Dahl). The Northern states did not believe that slaves were actually treated as part of the population in Southern states and, therefore, did not believe slaves should be counted towards population. This difference of opinion as to how slaves should be counted led to the creation of the Three-Fifths Compromise. (Dahl, Lecture) The Three-Fifths Compromise determined that slaves would be counted as Three-Fifths of a person towards a state’s population. Southern states did not fully avoid taxation but, with slaves now counted toward the states populations, the South had an advantage in the House of Representatives due to the higher number of slaves in the Southern states. The most significant consequence of the Compromise was the unfair advantage it gave the Southern states regarding representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. Due to this advantage, the Southern states had a political advantage up until Abraham Lincoln 's enactment of the Thirteenth Amendment to the

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