CTP—In the hot, humid weather of a Philadelphia summer, delegates wrangled, tempers flared over the one issue they could not resolve—how states should be represented in the national government. Finally, after delegates from Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland threatened to return home, Roger Sherman again stood up and again offered his plan—proportional representation in the lower house, equal representation in the senate. The Connecticut Compromise The vote on the “Connecticut Compromise,” as it was called, was five to five; nevertheless, it was recorded as passing. Many of the nationalists, including Madison and Hamilton, still wanted only proportional representation, but the best they could get, they found, was a compromise. The convention adjourned on July 26, leaving a committee to draw up the draft of the new constitution. The draft, released on August 6, contained the Connecticut Compromise—the lower house, the House of Representatives, would have proportional representation, while the upper house, the Senate, would admit two representatives from each state. Election of the President The executive, called the president, would be elected indirectly by the people—that is, the people would vote for electors who, in turn, voted for the president. The number of electors for each state was to be proportional to its population. This measure, the delegates thought, put a buffer between the people and the president, for each elector had the discretion to vote against the will of the people who chose him. The delegates did not trust the wisdom of the common folk, who, they thought, tended to mobocracy. Role of the President The president would be commander-in-chief of the armed forces...
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