What made America the city on a shining hill? What gave America its place in the history books? Numerous voices claim a plethora of answers—diversity, economic might, military prowess, rights, and countless others. None of these answers address the true underlying cause: compromise. Compromise allowed the United States to become the world power it is today. Compromise was not an inhibitor for success. Yet today, we find ourselves in a society where compromisers are vilified. Politicians and citizens alike are told to stand firm, not to cross the aisle, not to give in to the (perceived) enemy. This is dangerous. The enemy is not the other political party. Rather, the true enemy is the spirit of division that encourages us to hunt down and exploit our differences rather than work toward a stronger and more unified nation. Only through reviving the art of compromise can we work toward that unity and maintain our place as the city on the shining hill.

Compromise is at the foundation of our country as evident in the Great Compromise of 1787, one of the first compromises in American history. Throughout the Constitutional Convention, a multitude of issues threatened to break down the deliberations and possibly end the convention early. These issues were far from trivial; they ranged from slavery to the powers of Congress. However, the issue of state representation and whether power would tip in favor of the small states—as the status quo with the Articles of Confederation established—or the large states proved particularly divisive because the solution would determine the balance of power. Roger Sherman’s solution sought to bridge the gap between the competing plans, so that neither faction achieved the entirety of their vision. The compromise created a bicameral legislature in which the large states would be favored in the proportionally-based House of Representatives and the small states would be favored in the Senate where each state received equal representation. It ensured that the nation would be governed by majority rule with minority rights and protections. The compromise left neither side completely satisfied, but it did make unity around the new governing law more likely. Compromise made the Constitution stronger. It gave each side a stake in the future. It gave each side a reason to work toward increased unity. 

The Compromise of 1850 further exemplifies the strength of compromise and its necessity in American politics. This compromise was developed amid the rising tensions along the lines of slavery and states’ rights. Senator Henry Clay’s proposed solution, in what became known as the Compromise of 1850, consisted of five key principles: the admittance of California as a free state, the establishment of Texas’s border, the ability for the new territories of New Mexico and Utah to decide the issue of slavery based upon the idea of popular soverignty, the abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C., and the passing of a stronger Fugitive Slave Act. Today, it is becoming increasingly popular to view this compromise as a pact with the devil. Even northern politicians at the time decried Clay for asking them to betray their conscious and morals for the sake of preserving the union. However, Senator Daniel Webster recognized the necessity of this compromise in averting a crisis of secession and civil war (72 Kennedy). He thus became one of the foremost advocates of Clay’s compromise. He argued that the preservation of the nation was more important than the promotion of abolition or slavery. Hindsight shows that it successfully delayed the Civil War for a decade. Yet, many today highlight the start of the Civil War as evidence of its failure and use it as justification for the Compromise of 1850’s shortcomings.  In reality, the compromise did its job. It successfully postponed the Civil War for ten years, which gave the North the necessary time to further industrialize and increase “[its] lead in population, voting power, production, and railways”—all conditions that became crucial in the North’s ultimate victory (78 Kennedy). Compromise preserved the Union and strengthened the vitality of the United States. 

Since the Compromise of 1850, numerous instances of compromise strengthened the unity of the nation and allowed for progress. We have seen compromise on the international arena ranging from Woodrow Wilson’s work at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to Franklin Roosevelt’s deliberations at Tehran in 1943 and Yalta in 1945 to Ronald Reagan’s endeavors toward the end of the Cold War. We have also seen great congressional compromise. One of the most significant lies with the passing of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Johnson’s Great Society included a wide assortment of legislation that tackled many social ills. His legislation efforts implemented Medicare and Medicaid, income assistance, education and training programs, expanded funding for public housing, and civil rights legislation to name a few. One of many compromises in the passing of this legislation was with the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act as part of his War on Poverty. This act sought to “coordinate federal antipoverty initiatives and empower the poor to transform their own communities” through more direct funding and removing requirements on how the money was spent. More specifically, the bill wanted to bypass state and local governments and instead give the funds directly to the organizations. This gave great power to the Office of Economic Opportunity. Republicans wanted to give states greater authority in the matter of fund appropriation. The House rejected their alternative bill, but they were able to reach a compromise in which an apportionment index was created to clarify how the money would be distributed. This compromise enabled the bill to become law in August 1964. This is only one of many compromises that not only helped Johnson’s Great Society legislation to become law, but helped America to move towards progress.

History shows that compromise will never be perfect—that is inherent in its nature. It will always result in concessions, and no side will be fully satisfied. Yet, that is the beauty of it. Compromise compels us to listen to the other side and to work toward unity rather than division. It is through compromise that we maintain our strength as a nation. It is through compromise that we survived tumultuous times and earned ourselves a place in the history books. Compromise brought unity, and through that unity, America was made stronger. This strength allowed America to claim her place as the city on the shining hill. If we forget the merits of compromise, if we forget the good that it brings to our nation, we will once again make our mark on the history books—only this time, it will be as the nation who lost her place on the shining hill.

Kennedy, John F. Profiles in Courage. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.