The Great Compromise: Resolving the Constitutional Convention’s Vital Debate on Lawmaking Representation

Great Compromise

agreement providing a Bicameral legislature in the Legislative Branch / Congress for states Representation. House of Representatives, based off population & Senate 2 per state.

The Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was a plan that was proposed during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in the United States. It was presented as a way to resolve the disagreement between larger states and smaller states over how representation in the newly created federal legislature should be apportioned.

The larger states believed that representation should be based on population, while smaller states wanted each state to have an equal say in the legislature. This disagreement threatened to derail the entire process of writing a new constitution.

To resolve the impasse, the Great Compromise proposed a bicameral legislature that would consist of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population, with larger states getting more representatives. The Senate would give each state two representatives, regardless of population.

This compromise satisfied both larger and smaller states, and it ultimately was adopted, leading to the creation of the United States Congress as we know it today.

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