9781422274187

George Washington presides over the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The adopted draft of the Constitution largely avoided dealing with the problem of slavery.

politically and economically. When the Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia through the summer of that year, delegates from across the states wrestled to develop a system of government that would best serve the growing nation. Their first major challenge lay in determining the form of the legislative branch and how the American people would be represented therein. The Great Compromise combined two proposed plans, one calling for equal representation for all states and the other stipulating representation in Congress based on the population of each state. But another challenge loomed that would, for decades, allow discord to grow. THE THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE The Great Compromise succeeded in creating a bicameral legislature , with the Senate having equal representation for all states and the House of Representatives’ seats based on the

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CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR