Dbq Debate

When considered within the context of the weak Articles of Confederation, the political divide between those who wanted a strong central government and those who wanted a weak central government played a key role in the 1780s in the United States. However, this disunity was not a crisis, but a catalyst for a debate and conversation that would center around the political ethos of the country. Many philosophies came out of this new conversation, with the most polarizing one being Federalism. Many of these new ideas would take center stage in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which was necessitated by this ideological split. Compromise between both sides of the debate allowed the Constitution to be completed and later ratified by all of the states in 1789, as there were aspects of the new American government that satisfied both the framers and the states. In 1821, James Madison …show more content…
Prior to The Great Compromise of 1787, the two main plans put forth at the Constitutional Convention were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The larger states favored the Virginia Plan, as the number of representatives in both houses of Congress per state was based strictly on population, giving them more power. The smaller states preferred the New Jersey Plan, which ensured that all states had the same number of votes. The Great Compromise, which became the basis of the new American government, was possible through the coming together of the small states and the large states. In this new plan, the number of representatives per state in the lesser House was based on population and the number of representatives in the upper House was the same for each state, satisfying both sides of the debate (Lapsansky-Werner, 356). Without this compromise, the Constitution would have looked very different, or perhaps would not have existed at