were
assembling, a few men, under the lead of Madison, met and drew up the
outline of a constitution, which was presented by the chairman of the
Virginia delegation, and was called the "Virginia plan." A little later,
delegates from the small states met and drew up a second plan, which was
the old Articles of Confederation with amendments. As the chairman of
the New Jersey delegation offered this, it was called the "New Jersey
plan." Both were discussed; but the convention voted to accept the
Virginia plan as the basis of the Constitution.

[Footnote 1: For short accounts, read "The Framers and the Framing of
the Constitution" in the _Century Magazine_, September, 1887, or
"Framing the Constitution," in McMaster's _With the Fathers_, pp.
106-149, or Thorpe's _Story of the Constitution_, Chautauqua Course,
1891-92, pp. 111-148.]

%177. The Three Compromises.%--This plan called, among other things,
for a national legislature of two branches: a Senate and a House of
Representatives. The populous states insisted that the number of
representatives sent by each state to Congress should be in proportion
to her population. The small states insisted that each should send the
same number of representatives. For a time neither party would yield;
but at length the Connecticut delegates suggested that the states be
given an equal vote and an equal representation in the Senate, and an
unequal representation, based on population, in the House. The
contending parties agreed, and so made the first compromise.

But the decision to have representation according to population at once
raised the question, Shall slaves be counted as population? This divided
the convention into slave states and free (see p. 186), and led to a
second compromise, by which it was agreed that three fifths of all
slaves should be counted as population, for the purpose of apportioning
representation.

A third compromise sprang from the conflicting interests of the
commercial and the planting states. The planting states wanted a
provision forbidding Congress to pass navigation acts, except by a
two-thirds vote, and forbidding any tax on exports; three states also
wished to import slaves for use on their plantations. The free
commercial states wanted Congress to pass navigation laws, and also
wanted the slave trade stopped, because of the three-fifths rule. The
result was an agreement that the importation of slaves should not be
forbidden by Congress before 180