Discover

The 'Connecticut Compromise' of 1787 in the United States, also known as the 'Great Compromise', was one of the most important compromises reached in the United States Constitution. It created a bicameral, legislative body for the United States. The Great Compromise was to work out the degree of representation each state would have in Congress. After much arguing, the representatives decided that the Virginia Plan (a plan which was to be based on population) and the New Jersey Plan (a plan which called for equal representation) were to be combined. Roger Sherman (1721-1793) and Oliver Ellsworth, both from Connecticut, played a large role in constructing the Compromise, creating the Senate and House of Representatives.
The small states, with low populations, wanted their voices in the governing of the US to equal those of larger and more populated states like Virginia and New York. The more populous states, like Virginia, wanted representation in proportion to population. This way, they would have more control over what happened in America.
This resulted in a compromise that ended in the creation of the House of Representatives which was what the larger states wanted and the Senate which placated the smaller ones. Two representatives per state in the Senate and representatives according to population in the House. This also led to the Three-Fifths Compromise which gave slave owning states (whose populations of whites were low) the right to count each slave in their state as three-fifths of a person.

Contents

See also

References

See also

★ History of the United States Senate

References

★ The American Journey, Fifth Edition, Appleby, Joyce, Brinkley, Alan, and McPherson, James, , , Glenco/McGraw, 2003,