5 Key Compromises of the Constitutional Convention

Commerce Compromise

At the time of the Constitutional Convention, the North was industrialized and produced many finished goods. The South still had an agricultural economy. Additionally, the South imported many finished goods from Britain. Northern states wanted the government to be able to impose import tariffs on finished products to protect against foreign competition and encourage the South to buy goods made in the North and also export tariffs on raw goods to increase revenue flowing into the United States. However, the Southern states feared that export tariffs on their raw goods would hurt the trade upon which they heavily relied. The compromise mandated that tariffs were only to be allowed on imports from foreign countries and not exports from the U.S. This compromise also dictated that interstate commerce would be regulated by the federal government. It also required that all commerce legislation be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which was a win for the South since it countered the power of the more populous Northern states.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Delegates from Northern states, where the economy did not rely heavily on slavery, felt that slaves should not be counted toward representation because counting them would provide the South with a greater number of representatives. Southern states fought for slaves to be counted in terms of representation. The compromise between the two became known as the three-fifths compromise because every five slaves would be counted as three individuals in terms of representation.

Great Compromise

The Virginia Plan provided for representation to be based on the population of each state. On the other hand, the New Jersey Plan proposed equal representation for every state. The Great Compromise, also called the Connecticut Compromise, combined both plans. It was decided that there would be two chambers in Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate would be based on equal representation for each state and the House would be based on population.

Slave Trade Compromise

Those who opposed slavery in the Northern states wanted to bring an end to the importation and sale of slaves. This was in direct opposition to Southern states, which felt that slavery was vital to their economy and did not want the government interfering in the slave trade. In this compromise, Northern states, in their desire to keep the Union intact, agreed to wait until 1808 before Congress would be able to ban the slave trade in the U.S. (In March 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill abolishing the slave trade, and it took effect on Jan. 1, 1808.) Also part of this compromise was the fugitive slave law, which required Northern states to deport any runaway slaves, another win for the South.

Election of the President: The Electoral College

While some delegates felt that the president should be popularly elected, others feared that the electorate would not be informed enough to make that decision. The delegates came up with other alternatives, such as going through each state's Senate to elect the president. In the end, the two sides compromised with the creation of the Electoral College, which is made up of electors roughly proportional to population.