How did the framers of the Constitution resolve the conflict between Northern & Southern states?
The major conflict was not between North (anti-slavery) and South (pro-slavery) – that was resolved by agreeing that slavery would not be discussed for twenty years (it seemed like a long time back then). The real conflict was between large-population states and small-population states. The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan were attempts to propose something that would address the isssues of the larger states having more power than the smaller states. It was “The Great Compromise”, authored by Roger Sherman of Conn., that resolved the conflict by proposing the bi-cameral Congress that we have today. The Senate gave each state equal representation (made the small states happy) while the House gave more representaion, hence more power, to the large states, which made them happy.
