The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State. [U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 3, clause 1] Show During the summer of 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia established equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives. Called the “Great Compromise” or the “Connecticut Compromise,” this unique plan for congressional representation resolved the most controversial aspect of the drafting of the Constitution. The Virginia Plan, drafted by James Madison and introduced to the Convention by Edmund Randolph on May 29, 1787, proposed the creation of a bicameral national legislature, or a legislature consisting of two houses, in which the “rights of suffrage” in both houses would be proportional to the size of the state. When delegates from small states objected to this idea, delegates from the larger states argued that their states contributed more of the nation’s financial and defensive resources than small states and therefore ought to have a greater say in the central government. This proposal also reflected a vision of national government that differed from the government under the Articles of Confederation in which each state had an equal voice. Madison argued that “whatever reason might have existed for the equality . . . when the Union was a federal one among sovereign States, it must cease when a national Government should be put into place.” Delegates from the smaller states insisted on preserving the equal vote they had enjoyed under the Articles of Confederation. “A confederacy,” New Jersey’s William Paterson stated, “supposes sovereignty in the members composing it & sovereignty supposes equality.” On June 11 the delegates voted to adopt proportional representation in the House of Representatives based on the “whole number of white & other free Citizens,” and “three fifths of all other persons,” meaning enslaved African Americans. Connecticut’s Roger Sherman, with support from Oliver Ellsworth, also from Connecticut, immediately moved that states have equal suffrage in the Senate. Sherman stated that “Everything depended on this. The smaller States would never agree to the plan on any other principle than an equality of suffrage” in the Senate. The motion was defeated by one vote. In response, William Paterson proposed what became known as the New Jersey Plan, presenting it to the Convention on June 15. The centerpiece of Paterson’s plan was a unicameral (one-house) legislature in which each state had a single vote. The Convention voted down Paterson’s proposal on June 19 and affirmed its commitment to a bicameral legislature on June 21. The small-state delegates continued to protest proportional representation in the Senate with increasingly heated language, threatening to unravel the proceedings. When another vote on equal representation in the Senate resulted in a tie on July 2, however, the small shift opened the possibility for compromise. The Convention appointed a “Grand Committee” to reach a final resolution on the question. The committee reported the original Sherman compromise proposal with the added provision, suggested by Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, that revenue and spending bills would only originate in the House. Madison and others continued to press their case for proportional representation in the Senate and to oppose a House monopoly on revenue bills, while some small-state delegates were reluctant even to support proportional representation in the House. On July 16, delegates narrowly adopted the mixed representation plan giving states equal votes in the Senate. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style Copy CitationShare Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Constitutional-ConventionGive Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Your Feedback Submit FeedbackThank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites
Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Print Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style Copy CitationShareShare Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/event/Constitutional-ConventionFeedbackExternal Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Your Feedback Submit FeedbackThank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites
Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Alternate titles: Federal Convention, Philadelphia Convention By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Nov 11, 2022 Table of Contents U.S. Constitution See all media Date:1787...(Show more)Location:Pennsylvania Philadelphia United States...(Show more)Key People:Oliver Ellsworth Benjamin Franklin Elbridge Gerry Alexander Hamilton James Madison...(Show more) See all related content → Explore how the Constitution of the United States of America was drafted in the wake of Shays's Rebellion See all videos for this articleConstitutional Convention, (1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States. Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays’s Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–September 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation. All the states except Rhode Island responded to an invitation issued by the Annapolis Convention of 1786 to send delegates. Of the 74 deputies chosen by the state legislatures, only 55 took part in the proceedings; of these, 39 signed the Constitution. The delegates included many of the leading figures of the period. Among them were George Washington, who was elected to preside, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Oliver Ellsworth, and Gouverneur Morris. Discarding the idea of amending the Articles of Confederation, the assembly set about drawing up a new scheme of government but found itself divided, delegates from small states (those without claims to unoccupied western lands) opposing those from large states over the apportionment of representation. Edmund Randolph offered a plan known as the Virginia, or large state, plan, which provided for a bicameral legislature with representation of each state based on its population or wealth. William Paterson proposed the New Jersey, or small state, plan, which provided for equal representation in Congress. Neither the large nor the small states would yield. Oliver Ellsworth and Roger Sherman, among others, in what is sometimes called the Connecticut, or Great, Compromise, proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation of the states in the upper house. All revenue measures would originate in the lower house. That compromise was approved July 16. Britannica Quiz This Day in History Quiz: September 17The matter of counting slaves in the population for figuring representation was settled by a compromise agreement that three-fifths of the slaves should be counted as population in apportioning representation and should also be counted as property in assessing taxes. Controversy over the abolition of the importation of slaves ended with the agreement that importation should not be forbidden before 1808. The powers of the federal executive and judiciary were enumerated, and the Constitution was itself declared to be the “supreme law of the land.” The convention’s work was approved by a majority of the states the following year. How would the Constitutional Convention delegates decide on representation?Each state would be equally represented in the Senate, with two delegates, while representation in the House of Representatives would be based upon population. The delegates finally agreed to this "Great Compromise," which is also known as the Connecticut Compromise.
How did the delegates disagree about representation?Some delegates feared that proportional representation would allow the larger states to dominate Congress and pass laws adverse to the interests of the smaller states.
How did the delegates answer the question of representation?After much deliberation, the delegates established equal state representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.
What did the delegates at the Constitutional Convention primarily want?In the summer of 1787, delegates gathered for a convention in Philadelphia, with the goal of revising the Articles of Confederation—the nation's existing governing document. However, rather than simply revising the Articles of Confederation, they wrote an entirely new framework of government: the U.S. Constitution.
|
