1. Compromises: Great & Dirty
The US Constitution
Compromises: Great & Dirty

2. Purposes We, the People of the United States, in order to
Form a more Perfect Union
Establish Justice
Ensure Domestic Tranquility
Provide for the Common Defense
Promote the General Welfare, and
Secure the Blessings of Liberty
To ourselves, and
Our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

3. “The Great Compromise”
Legislative Power (Article 1 section 1-7)
Bicameral legislature of co-equal houses
House of Representatives
Chosen by apportioned districts
Two-year terms
Senate
2 members per state
Chosen by state legislatures
Overlapping 6-year terms
Executive Power (Article 2)
Unitary Executive
President
Chosen by electors in states
Electors chosen according to state legislatures’ direction
Four-year term
Other officers
Established by legislative power
Appointed in such manner as the legislature may direct
Judicial Power (Article 3)
Federal Court system
One supreme court
Inferior courts established by the legislature
Appointed by executive, approved by the Senate
Serve ‘during good behavior”
State Court system
Determined by state legislatures
People
States HR
Senate
Executive
Electors
Judiciary

4. Factions and the Federal Convention- +
Factions at the Convention
Known enduring factions
We, the People
The several States
Large states
Small states
Northern states
Southern states
The United States (The new central government)
Possible enduring factions
Federalists (The Friends of Order)
Anti-federalists (The Friends of Liberty)
Issue-based factions
Pro-slavery
Anti-slavery
Faction defined in Federalist #10
A number of citizens
> ½ or
< ½
United by a common interest
Act on their common interest
Their common interest adverse to the rights of others or
Their common interest adverse to the permanent and aggregate interest of the community ?
The Slavery Compromises
Representation and Apportionment
A. The “3/5 Compromise”
Article 1 section 2, clause 3
Interstate Commerce
B. The “Slave Trade Clause”
Article 1 section 9, clause 1
Full Faith & Credit
C. The “Fugitive Slave Clause”
Article 4 section 2, clause 3

5. Which faction wins the Compromise?
Anti-slavery (-)
A. 3/5
Ensured continued debate over slavery with admission of each new state
Recognized need to balance factions in Congress
B. Slave Trade
Implied plenary power of Congress to prohibit the slave trade
Kept open the possibility of banning the slave trade in new states
Participation in international slave trade banned by Congress one day after Constitution allowed
C. Fugitive Slave
Required slave owners personally to make claims on runaway slaves and to petition states directly
Ensured continued debate over slavery with each individual petition
Presented constant agitation against slavery in states where slavery was illegal
Pro-slavery (+)
A. 3/5
ensured greater representation of states where slavery was legal
Slave states carried a slim majority in 1st Congress
Sets stage for admission of new ‘slave states’
B. Slave Trade
Kept Congress from regulating importation of enslaved populations for an entire generation
Allowed states to import a critical mass of the enslaved for domestic slave trade
C. Fugitive Slave
Required all states to cooperate with slave owners seeking runaway slaves
Acknowledged that runaway slaves could not be discharged from their ‘service or labor’
Nullified any state laws blocking slave owners from making claims on runaway slaves

6. Questions for Discussion
In what ways can both pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups be viewed as factious?
What lessons can be drawn from the experience of the Slavery Compromises?
How can this lesson apply to seemingly intractable policy problems in America today?