Massachusetts Compromise

The Massachusetts Compromise was a solution reached in a controversy between Federalists and Anti-Federalists over ratification of the United States Constitution.The federalists were with the ratification of the constitution, while the anti federalists were against the ratification of the constitution. The anti federalists wanted the bill of rights because it would protect individual rights. The federalists did not want a bill of rights because they believed that the rights and decisions of the people should lay in the government and not the people. The compromise helped gather enough support for the Constitution to ensure its ratification and lead to the adoption of the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights.

Anti-Federalists feared the Constitution would over-centralize government and diminish individual rights and liberties. They sought to amend the Constitution, particularly with a Bill of Rights as a condition before ratification. Federalists insisted that states had to accept or reject the document as written.

When efforts to ratify the Constitution encountered serious opposition in Massachusetts, two noted anti-Federalists, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, helped negotiate a compromise. The anti-Federalists agreed to support ratification, with the understanding that they would put forth recommendations for amendments should the document go into effect. The Federalists agreed to support the proposed amendments, specifically a bill of rights.

Following this compromise, Massachusetts voted to ratify the Constitution on February 6, 1788. Five states subsequently voted for ratification, four of which followed the Massachusetts model of recommending amendments along with their ratification.

References

• Richard B. Bernstein. "Ratification of the Constitution". The Reader's Companion to American History. Houghton Mifflin. Archived from the original on 2004-10-12.