Roger Sherman Dbq Analysis

In an attempt to address concerns dealing with representation of the states in Congress, delegates chosen from the states: Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, and Georgia met in Philadelphia on July 16, 1787 in a meeting called, The Constitutional Convention. Among these delegates was Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Sherman was seen as awkward and unmeaning, giving off the air of a sub-conscious farmer when seated quietly. Although Sherman’s posture and physical appearance was not up to par of other politicians, and gave insight on his background as a Yeoman farmer, his superior intelligence was often recognized and spoken about on a grand level by those

Along with this, the New Jersey plan was once again part of a continued debated even after its rejection, in fact the rejection made it more questionable than ever before. The two plans had both flaws and strengths of their own, yet neither were able to equally pleased the large and small states, which resulted in a final decision not being made. On June 11, 1787, after a period of debate, Roger Sherman went to the Convention of 1787 with his proposal of representation. His first suggestion was that the lower house be appointed based on population and the upper house be by equal vote to each state, this went unsuccessful. However, on July 16, his proposal was deemed acceptable once the representation of houses was changed. There would still be a bicameral legislature in congress, but instead the upper house, the House of Representatives, be provided proportional representation with every thirty thousand peoples equaling up to one representative. This suggestion was adopted from the Virginia plan, which pleased the large states. In the lower house, the Senate, the compromise was two representatives per state, despite population. This equal representation reflected the New Jersey plan, which pleased the smaller states. The Great Compromise fulfilled some of the requests from both proposed plans and was accepted

In the beginning of July 11 the delegates had begun arguing over the method of census and who would be counted. Slavery became a spotlight issue in the Great Compromise when the south and north’s different views on how slaves should be counted in representation was made apparent. On one hand, the south wanted slaves to be accounted for when deciding representation. Because the southern states had a large population of slaves they wanted to have more representation in the House of Representatives. However, the north had a different view, they thought that slaves should not be counted as the population for representation. Instead, they countered back with the concept of slaves being counted for taxation purposes. Along with this, the north wanted to end the slave trade. South rejected this proposition, because slaves were essential to their economy. Delegates wanted a compromise to end the issue without discussing slavery in the Constitution. This led to the three-fifths compromise which delegates eventually agreed to. Through this slaves were counted as three-fifths of the population for both the representation in the House of Representatives and taxation as well. Every five slaves equaled three people counted for population and taxation. The north was pleased because the slave states were being taxed for their large population and the south states were