Constitutional Compromises: Crash Course Government and Politics #5

Summary

In this Crash Course Government and Politics episode, Craig Benzine explores the creation of the United States Constitution, highlighting the challenges faced during its drafting and the key compromises that shaped it. The video discusses the Articles of Confederation's inadequacies, the contentious debates between large and small states, and the Three-Fifths Compromise's controversial impact on representation. It also touches on the Federalist and Anti-Federalist viewpoints, leading to the Constitution's ratification and the promise of a Bill of Rights, emphasizing the foundational role of compromise in American governance.

Takeaways

• 📜 The United States Constitution is considered the most important document in America, serving as the foundation of the U.S. government.
• 🔄 The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation, which was the first attempt at American governance and was deemed ineffective.
• 🤝 The Constitutional Convention saw delegates from various states with differing agendas, necessitating compromise to create a unified government.
• 🏛️ The Articles of Confederation lacked an executive branch, judiciary, and the power to levy taxes, significantly limiting the government's capabilities.
• 🌳 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, an achievement of the Articles government, established rules for new territories and prohibited slavery in those regions.
• 🗳️ The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan represented the conflicting interests of large and small states, respectively, in the formation of the new government.
• 🔄 The Great Compromise resulted in a bicameral legislature, addressing the issue of representation in Congress and balancing state interests.
• ⚖️ The Three-Fifths Compromise was a contentious decision that counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation purposes.
• 🗣️ Ratification of the Constitution was not guaranteed, with Federalists advocating for a strong central government and Anti-Federalists fearing a loss of individual liberties.
• 🏛️ The promise of a Bill of Rights was a critical compromise made to secure the Constitution's ratification, reflecting the necessity of balancing different interests.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video script?

The main focus of the video script is to discuss the creation and significance of the United States Constitution, including the compromises made during its drafting and the subsequent ratification process.

What was the first attempt at an American government?

The first attempt at an American government was the government set up under the Articles of Confederation, which was in place during the Revolutionary War and for almost 10 years afterwards.

Why did the delegates gather in Philadelphia in 1787?

The delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, but they ended up scrapping the whole thing and creating a new Constitution.

What was the main issue with the Articles of Confederation government?

The main issue with the Articles of Confederation government was that it really couldn't govern effectively due to the lack of an executive branch or president, no judiciary, and the inability to levy taxes.

What was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, and why was it significant?

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a set of rules for the governance of the Northwest Territory and the process for admitting new states to the Union. It was significant because it forbade slavery in the territories, which was a major step in the early history of the United States.

What were the two opposing plans for the structure of the new congress proposed by the states?

The two opposing plans were the Virginia Plan, which proposed a congress where the number of representatives was proportional to the states' populations, and the New Jersey Plan, which proposed a congress with an equal number of representatives from each state.

What is the Great Compromise, and how did it resolve the conflict between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans?

The Great Compromise was a proposal by Roger Sherman from Connecticut that led to the creation of a bicameral legislature, consisting of a Senate with equal representation for each state and a House of Representatives with representation based on population.

What is the Three-Fifths Compromise, and how did it affect the representation of states in Congress?

The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement that determined how enslaved individuals would be counted for purposes of taxation and representation in Congress. It stated that for every five slaves, three would be counted as the population of a state, which affected both taxation and representation.

Why was the ratification of the Constitution necessary, and how did it occur?

The ratification of the Constitution was necessary because it needed to be approved by at least 9 of the 13 states to go into effect. Ratification occurred through special conventions in each state where delegates voted on whether to adopt the new constitution.

What were the main arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the ratification process?

Federalists believed in a strong central government and supported the Constitution because they thought it would benefit the country as a whole, while Anti-Federalists were skeptical of a large government that could potentially trample on individual liberties and favored stronger state powers.

Why did the Federalists eventually promise a Bill of Rights?

The Federalists promised a Bill of Rights to appease those who were concerned about the lack of specific protections for individual liberties in the original Constitution, which helped secure its ratification.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to the U.S. Constitution

Craig introduces the topic of the United States Constitution, emphasizing its significance as the foundation of American government. He notes that the Constitution was a second attempt at forming a government after the Articles of Confederation proved ineffective. The video aims to explore how the Constitution was created and the compromises made during its formation. Craig humorously points out the lack of an executive branch or judiciary in the Articles, which led to a weak and indecisive government. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention had to overcome disagreements and find common ground, leading to the creation of a new Constitution that replaced the Articles.

05:01

🗳️ The Great Compromise and Ratification

The second paragraph delves into the contentious issue of how representation in Congress would be determined, particularly the debate over how to count slaves for the purpose of representation, known as the Three-Fifths Compromise. This compromise allowed states with large slave populations to have more representation in Congress, while also ensuring that slaves were considered less than full persons. The paragraph also discusses the ratification process, which required approval from at least nine of the thirteen states. The Federalists, who supported a strong central government, and the Anti-Federalists, who were wary of such power, are introduced. The Federalists' persuasive efforts, including the Federalist Papers, are highlighted, as well as the eventual promise of a Bill of Rights to secure ratification. The paragraph concludes with a reminder of the importance of compromise in the formation of the Constitution.

Keywords

💡Constitution

The Constitution is the supreme legal document that establishes the framework of the United States government. It outlines the powers and limits of the federal government, as well as the rights of its citizens. In the video, the Constitution is described as the foundation of American government, highlighting its importance in the formation and operation of the country's political system.

💡Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States, in place during the Revolutionary War and for almost a decade afterwards. It represented a confederation of states with a very weak central government. The video points out that the Articles were poorly executed and unable to effectively govern, leading to the creation of a new Constitution.

💡Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention was a gathering of delegates from various states in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. However, as mentioned in the video, the delegates decided to create a new Constitution entirely. This event was pivotal in shaping the government structure of the United States.

💡Compromise

Compromise is a central theme in the video, referring to the necessity for delegates to find common ground on contentious issues during the Constitutional Convention. The video emphasizes that compromise was essential in creating a workable Constitution, as it allowed for the balancing of different interests and the resolution of conflicts between states.

💡Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan was a proposal put forward by larger states during the Constitutional Convention, advocating for a congress where representation would be proportional to the states' populations. This plan aimed to give more influence to populous states, as illustrated in the video by the delegates from Virginia.

💡New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey Plan was a counterproposal to the Virginia Plan, advocating for equal representation for all states in the congress. This plan was favored by smaller states to prevent them from being overshadowed by larger ones, as explained in the video.

💡Great Compromise

The Great Compromise, as discussed in the video, was a solution to the conflict between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. It led to the creation of a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate with equal representation for each state.

💡Three-Fifths Compromise

The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention on how to count slaves for the purposes of representation and taxation. As described in the video, this compromise allowed each slave to be counted as three-fifths of a person, which had significant implications for the political power of states with large slave populations.

💡Federalists

Federalists were those who supported the ratification of the Constitution. They believed in a strong central government and were often from urban areas or represented commercial interests. The video mentions the Federalist Papers, a series of articles written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, which were instrumental in persuading the public to support the Constitution.

💡Anti-Federalists

Anti-Federalists were those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution, fearing that it would lead to tyranny and the erosion of individual liberties. They advocated for stronger state governments and were concerned about potential abuses of power by the central government, as highlighted in the video.

💡Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which were promised by the Federalists to address concerns raised by the Anti-Federalists. These amendments保障了公民的基本权利, such as freedom of speech and religion. The video notes that the promise of a Bill of Rights was a significant compromise that helped secure the Constitution's ratification.

Highlights

The United States Constitution is considered the most important document in America and serves as the foundation of the U.S. government.

The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation, which was the first attempt at an American government.

The Articles of Confederation had no executive branch, no judiciary, and each state had veto power, leading to ineffective governance.

The Articles government couldn't levy taxes and relied on states for funding, which was unreliable.

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a significant achievement of the Articles government, setting up rules for new settlements and forbidding slavery in new territories.

The Constitutional Convention in 1787 aimed to revise the Articles but resulted in creating a new Constitution due to the Articles' inadequacies.

Delegates at the Constitutional Convention had to compromise on various issues to create a workable Constitution.

The Virginia Plan proposed a congress with representation proportional to state populations, favoring larger states.

The New Jersey Plan suggested equal representation for all states in congress, to prevent smaller states from being dominated by larger ones.

Roger Sherman's Great Compromise led to the creation of a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Three-Fifths Compromise determined that slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.

The Constitution had to be ratified by at least 9 of the 13 states, leading to public debates and the division into Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

Federalists, including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported a strong central government and wrote the Federalist Papers to promote ratification.

Anti-Federalists were skeptical of a large government and feared it would infringe on individual liberties and states' rights.

The Federalists eventually won the debate, and the Constitution was ratified, but not without the promise of a Bill of Rights.

The Constitution's ratification process demonstrated the importance of compromise in American government, a principle that remains central to its functioning.

Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios and supported by Voqal, promoting social equity through technology and media.

Transcripts

Hi, I'm Craig, and this is Crash Course Government and Politics, and today we're going to talk

about the single most important document in America, one that we'll be talking about a

lot over next few months. No, I'm not talking about O Magazine - it's the United States Constitution,

and what we're really gonna focus on is how it got made and how it became the foundation of our government.

[Theme Music]

Those of you who watched the U.S. History series with John Green probably remember that

the government set up by the Constitution is actually the second attempt at an American

government. Also, as pointed out in the comments, you probably noticed that I am not John Green.

The first American government, which was in place during the Revolutionary War and for

almost 10 years afterwards, was the Articles of Confederation. Like many first attempts,

the Articles government had some good ideas and it meant well, but it was poorly executed.

Give it a break, it never did this before!

So when delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles, they ended

up scrapping the whole thing and creating a new Constitution. It's probably not because

they didn't know what revise meant. So, the delegates from the various states each had

their own agendas at the Constitutional Convention, and that made it difficult for them to agree

on what the new government should look like. In order to hammer out a Constitution, they

had to do something you don't see very much of in government these days - compromise.

Oh, let's compromise, I'm sorry, eagle, I didn't mean...

Before we get into what those compromises were, it's kinda necessary to look at what

was so bad about the Articles government in the first place. The main thing was it really

couldn't govern. There was no executive branch or president and no judiciary to settle disputes.

It was basically just a congress where each state was equally represented and they all

pretty much had veto power and could sink legislation they didn't like. All decisions

were collective, which meant that very few decisions were actually made, because it's

really hard to get 13 people to agree on something that will be in the interest of all 13. I

can barely agree with Stan on anything. Right, Stan? He said wrong.

Most important, the Articles government had no power to levy taxes, which meant that if

it needed any money to do, well, anything, it had to ask for the money from the states,

which were free to say, "No, I don't think we'll be giving you any money today. ...or tomorrow. Or ever."

As I remember from my college years - and I don't remember much - living without money

is awful. Without money, it's pretty much impossible for a government to do anything,

except buy ramen noodles. The Articles government was able to accomplish one notable thing,

though. One of the big issues it had to deal with was Americans moving out West, which

in the 1770's and 80's meant to places like Ohio and Indiana that weren't states yet.

The government managed to set up rules for these settlements in the Northwest Ordinance

of 1787, which set up a system for eventual statehood. But most importantly, it forbade

slavery in these territories, which, as students of American history know, was kind of a big

deal. You wouldn't know that, you're not a student of American history. You're a symbol of America, bird!

I'm not gonna punch you.

Other than that, though, the Articles government was a flop. And the very thing that made it

so ineffective threatened to screw up any attempts at new government, too. This was

the issue of competing interests between different states, more specifically the states with

large populations and the smaller states. Basically, a state with a large population

like, say, Virginia, had different needs than a state with a small population, like Delaware.

More importantly, large states might stand to benefit more from any government spending.

When the delegates decided to make a new congress, these large population states wanted the number

of representatives to that congress to be proportional to the states' populations, which

would mean that the larger states would have more representatives than the smaller ones.

This idea, a large congress made up of many delegates, was called The Virginia Plan. Because

it was put forward by the delegates from Wisconsin. Just kidding...Virginia.

The delegates from small New Jersey put forward a plan that would have a congress where each state would send an equal

number of representatives. In other words, something that looked a lot like the Articles government.

This New Jersey Plan would prevent smaller states from being dominated by the larger states, and also

ensure that the large states wouldn't be able to vote themselves a bigger share of government spending.

These two opposing interests threatened to scuttle the whole new government thing until

Roger Sherman from Connecticut proposed The Great Compromise, that gave us the bicameral

legislature that we talked about in episode two, and we've all come to know and love, sometimes.

So The Great Compromise meant that we would have a two-house legislature, but this wasn't

the only issue related to how the seats in Congress would be apportioned. The membership

in the House would be based on the state's population, but at the time there was an issue

about how to count that population.

The issue was slavery. More specifically, how to count slaves as part of a state's population.

Let's go to the Thought Bubble.

The states with large slave populations, like South Carolina and Virginia, had a pretty

big interest in counting these slaves for the purposes of determining representation.

And the states with few slaves didn't want them counted at all. Because this would mean

that the white non-slave people in those states with lots of slaves would effectively be better

represented than the white non-slave people in the states with few slaves.

The delegates at the Constitutional Convention solved this problem with another compromise

that was decidedly less great. Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution includes the following

clause: "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states

which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be

determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service

for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons."

If you're looking for the word "slave," you won't find it. They're the ones described

by the phrase, "three-fifths of all other persons." This is the notorious Three-Fifths Compromise.

What it means is that in order to determine how many representatives a state has, you

count the number of free people in the state, including indentured servants, and add to

that number three-fifths of the number of non-free persons, otherwise known as slaves.

So in terms of counting, each slave was worth three-fifths of each free person.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

Anyway, this meant that states with large populations of slaves would be disproportionately

represented in Congress, but not quite so badly that most northern states with small

numbers of slaves wouldn't vote for the Constitution.

What this also did was enshrine the idea that slaves, who were mostly black, were worth

less than free people, who were mostly white. And it embedded slavery into the Constitution.

So before this constitution of compromise could go into effect, it had to be ratified

by at least 9 of the 13 states. So each state had a special convention where delegates could

vote on whether or not to adopt the new constitution. These conventions were more open to the public

than the Constitutional Convention itself, and the ratification process is the reason

why some people say the Constitution is based on the will of the people.

But not everybody wanted the Constitution, and they needed convincing. This is where

things get a little confusing. Did you want the Constitution? Did ya?

In 1787, public opinion about the Constitution was pretty evenly divided. Those who wanted

the Constitution were called Federalists, largely because of the Federalist Papers,

a series of articles written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

They wrote the Federalist Papers to convince voters in New York to ratify the Constitution.

And since New York did eventually ratify the document, I guess they worked. But we should

listen to both sides of the argument...in the Clone Zone.

So joining us in the Clone Zone today will be Federalist Clone and Anti-Federalist Clone.

Let's hear from Federalist Clone first. Feddy? Can I call you Feddy?

No. The Federalists were the incredibly intelligent Americans who thought that a strong central

government would benefit the country as a whole. They tended to come from cities, and

often they represented commercial classes, especially wealthy people, who had lent money

to the government during the Revolution.

They liked the new Constitution because they felt that a strong national government would

pay its debts, and this was good for business. They also tended to want stronger ties with

England, again because England was a good trading partner. Given the raging success

of the Articles government, it's pretty clear that the Federalists were right.

Okay, now let's hear from Anti-Federalist Clone. How do you respond, Anti?

I'm not your aunt! Sure, Federalists were right to believe in tyranny. Anti-Federalists

were right to be skeptical of a large government that would trample on our individual liberties.

They didn't want a big government that would tax them to death, and possibly take away

their slaves. In general, Anti-Federalists felt that states would be the best protectors

of people's rights and liberties, because being smaller, they would be more responsive

to people's needs. Okay?

The Anti-Federalists published pamphlets and articles, too. But we weren't quite as organized,

so we didn't have a coherent set of Anti-Federalist Papers to push on government students.

Okay, okay, you seem really mad about this.

I am.

But you eventually lost the debate.

I did.

Huzzah!

How come he got to shoot fireworks--

--I didn't know he was gonna--

--I wanna shoot fireworks--

Okay? I'm sorry, I'm sorry--next time. You can have fireworks.

So the Federalist position won out and the Constitution was ratified. And that's the

government that Americans have been living under ever since. Hooray!

Because the Constitution was passed, we tend to think that everyone loved it. But it wasn't

nearly as clear-cut as hindsight makes it appear.

Eventually, the Federalists had to offer another compromise, promising a Bill of Rights in

the first ten amendments. This isn't called one of the constitutional compromises because

it happened outside of the Convention, but it was yet another example of how different

interests had to give a little in order to get a Constitution passed.

It's very important to remember that compromise, the idea of balancing interests and giving

a little to get a lot, is embedded in the Constitution. While today it seems like a

political dirty word, compromise is the basis of the American government itself.

Thanks for watching. I'll seeya next week. Well, I'll compromise. Seeya in a week and

a half. Let's face it; Stan's probably not going to get this done in time anyway.

Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios. Support

for Crash Course U.S. Government comes from Voqal. Voqal supports non-profits that use

technology and media to advance social equity. Learn more about their mission and initiatives

at voqal.org.

Crash Course was made by all of these nice people at the Chad and Stacy Emigholz Studio,

in tropical Indianapolis. Thanks for watching. I'm going to the beach.