The Great Compromise

1787
What is it and why America needed it?

During Philadelphia Convention the Framers had to

decide how the States were going to be represented
in the Federal government.
This created a debate about the structure of the
future legislative branch: the Congress.
The different possibilities the delegates of the States
came up with can be resumed in two different and
opposite plans: The Virginia Plan and the New
Jersey Plan.
The Virginia Plan

Virginia proposed a bicameral system in which, in

both houses, the number of the representatives from
each state was to be calculated according to the
population of the different States.
This plan was intended to give more power to the
bigger and more populated States, as a matter of fact
smaller States didnt agree with it.
The New Jersey Plan

They proposed a one-house legislative branch in

which every State had the same number of
Representatives.
This view was supported by the idea that the
Confederation was a union of States and not a union
of people.
Smaller states agreed with this plan.
The Solution: The Great Compromise

The Great Compromise was called also Connecticut

Compromise since it was proposed by Connecticut delegates
Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth.
It was a kind of union and, of course, compromise between
the Virginia and the NJ Plan.
It called for a bicameral system. It wanted to create a Senate
with equal representation for all States and a House of
Representatives in which the number of seats was
proportional to the population of the member State.
While the Senate was intended to satisfy the requests of the
smaller States, the House of Representatives was the body
that would satisfy the requests of bigger States.
Elections

Another thing that had to be decided was

the kind of elections for both the House
and the Senate.
The Framers wanted the Senators to be
elected by the State legislatures. The
Framers took this decision in order to give
more stability with a legislative body that
was less subject to temporary passions of
the citizens. Now Senators are elected by
popular vote, thanks to the 17th
Amendment (ratified 1913).
The delegates of the House of
Representatives were to be elected by
popular vote. The Philadelphia Convention
gave the Representatives a term of 2 years.
The Outcome

The Great Compromise passed by a one-vote margin

and created the Congress that still exists nowadays. It
is one of the fundamental steps that drove America
towards the accomplishments of a fair and correct
Federalism.
[We must remember that the elections of the House
of Representatives went through a very strong
debate during the Convention. This problem, related
to the count of black slaves as part of the population,
was resolved with the 3/5 Compromise.]
Sources

Dual Diploma Government Course

https://www.reference.com/history/institution-co
ngress-created-great-compromise-61c2682b9d8badc8
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