[Music] the u.s constitution opens with the following powerful words 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 how did we get here the story of the constitutional convention which some have called the miracle at philadelphia begins on may 25th 1787. the delegates met in the pennsylvania state house which is now called independence hall and it's right across from the national constitution center where i am right now they deliberated in secret until september 17th what happened during these crucial months as the delegates drafted and debated the us constitution well today we're going to talk about three crucial compromises at the constitutional convention that led to its proposal and ratification they include first the balance of power between big states and small states second the election of the president and third the future of slavery well let's begin with the disputes between the big states and the small states the big states favored the virginia plan which was largely the work of james madison in the virginia plan madison proposed a legislative branch consisting of two houses in both houses the states would be represented based on populations so the more people in the state the more representatives it would have in both houses of congress the small states led by william patterson of new jersey didn't like this plan and they countered with the new jersey plan it grew out of fears that the virginia version would lead the large states to dominate the small states the new jersey plan envisions a one house legislature organized around state equality with each state getting one vote regardless of its population eventually roger sherman and oliver ellsworth who were both from connecticut proposed the connecticut compromise and under the connecticut plan congress would consist of two houses a house of representatives and a senate the house is organized on the basis of population which gives the bigger states more seats than the smaller states and then the senate is organized on the basis of equal representation with each state regardless of its size receiving two senators the great compromise eventually passed by a single vote let's now turn from congress to the presidency focusing on the second big set of compromises which led to our method for selecting a president which is the electoral college and to understand the debate over the electoral college we have to understand the framers debates about the nature of the presidency itself some delegates like alexander hamilton wanted a strong national executive elected for life others like roger sherman wanted a weak executive who would simply carry the will of the legislature into effect so how did we end up with the electoral college well the delegates considered a range of options one idea supported by james madison was to have congress pick the president that would have the advantage of putting the decision in the hands of the nation's most knowledgeable leaders and presumably they could pick the best person because they knew the candidates the concern was as governor morris warned that the result would eventually be the work of intrigue of a cabal and a faction producing a president who'd become a mere tool of his supporters in congress another idea was proposed by james wilson the great proponent of popular sovereignty and james wilson who came from pennsylvania proposed election of the president by popular vote this proposal would have the advantage of rooting the president in popular sovereignty but some delegates like george mason of virginia were concerned that the size of the country would make it hard to pull off a national election the average voter just wouldn't know enough about an out-of-state candidate to make an informed choice everyone at the convention knew that george washington would be the first president and that was tremendously important it's what ensured the convention's success but no other candidate would have the national name recognition or the respect that the virtuous washington had so the electoral college emerged as a compromise between those like james wilson who wanted the direct popular election of the president those like james madison who supported presidential selection by congress and those like alexander hamilton who viewed the electoral college as a way of guarding against dangerous demagogues who might seduce the people into giving up their liberties instead it would leave the president and his election or her election ultimately to the votes of national elites let's end with our third compromise it's the most controversial and troubling aspect of the convention and it involves the compromises that the delegates made about slavery in particular let's focus on debates over the infamous three-fifths clause following the great compromise between the big and the small states the house of representatives drew up districts based on a state's population the more people in the state the greater number of districts it gets but how would enslaved people be counted for the purpose of representation in the house that's what led to the debate over the three-fifths clause which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation where did that infamous compromise come from well it was james wilson who brokered the compromise at the convention that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining representation in congress wilson proposed the formula which congress had used earlier for taxing purposes and he saw it as a pragmatic effort to mediate between those who wanted to count enslave people fully in a state's total population and those who wanted to exclude them entirely anti-slavery delegates said this was hypocritical how could southern delegates treat enslave people as full persons for purposes of representation in the national government but at the same time deny their humanity by treating them as as property for example governor morris the pennsylvania delegate who is one of the most vocal opponents of slavery called slavery a nefarious institution the curse of heaven on the states where it prevailed nevertheless the delegates in particular the delegates from georgia and south carolina decided that the clause was necessary to secure the support of the deep south uh this clause had a huge impact over time the three-fifths clause increased pro-slavery strength in congress by counting enslaved people as three-fifths of a person it also increased the strength of the slave states in the presidency through the electoral college and at the supreme court by electing pro-slavery presidents who appointed pro-slavery justices and in the end the delegates refused to write explicit protection for slavery into the constitution according to james madison's notes mr madison thought it wrong to admit in the constitution the idea that there could be property in men and when frederick douglass read those words when madison's notes were published in the 1840s he said it changed his conception of himself as a man and as a citizen and changed him from viewing the constitution as a pro-slavery document to believing that the framers left the future of slavery up to the states and the federal government but to ensure that the constitutional convention continued the delegates accepted the three-fifths compromise as well as another infamous compromise which prevented congress from banning the international slave trade for another 20 years until 1808. here there really was a split between states like virginia which wanted an immediate ban to the international slave trade and states like south carolina and georgia which still relied on the international slave trade george mason from virginia called it an infernal traffic that originated in the avarice of british merchants avarice means greed but south carolina and georgia refused to budge and the result was the clause that prevented congress from banning the international slave trade until 1808 which it promptly did unfortunately by that point the invention of the cotton gin in 1794 had vastly increased the lucrativeness of the american system of enslavement and the southern economy as a whole became even more reliant on the labor of the enslaved it would take the civil war followed by the ratification of the 13th amendment in 1865 to end slavery in america well the constitutional convention ended on september 17 1787 we celebrate constitution day today as september 17th and as the convention was reaching its close benjamin franklin offered some final thoughts he admitted that the constitution wasn't perfect but he asked his fellow delegates to approach it in a spirit of humility i confess franklin said that there are several parts of this constitution which i do not at present approve but i'm sure i shall never approve them for having lived long i've experienced many instances of being obliged by better information or fuller consideration to change opinions even on important subjects which i once thought right but found to be otherwise it is therefore that the older i grow the more apt i am to doubt my own judgment and to pay more respect to the judgment of others after franklin's speech the delegates signed the constitution their signatures didn't give it the force of supreme law only we the people in ratifying conventions could do that but the proposal of the constitution on september 17th was a powerful sign of the delegate support nevertheless three delegates refused to sign george mason and edmund randolph of virginia and elbridge gary of massachusetts why did they refuse to sign the new constitution the main reason is that it didn't contain a bill of rights on the last day of the convention franklin met a citizen of philadelphia mrs elizabeth powell and she asked him well dr franklin what have we got a republic or a monarchy franklin's reply a republic if you can keep it it's up to all of us to keep the constitutional republic that the convention wrought and learning about it in a spirit of open-mindedness and humility as you're doing now is the best place to start [Music]