Why Was the Great Compromise Important?

In the American government each state has a number of representatives based on its size. Given the fact that some states are obviously larger than others, the early American government and its leaders had to develop a representation system that would fairly represent all parties for governmental and legal purposes.

The major concern with the Virginia and New Jersey plans was the increase in the power of Congress which some were not happy with. Ultimately, there was a compromise created by Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut on July 16, 1787 that allowed for a two-part legislature with a lower and upper house. 

The compromise is called a compromise because both the Virginia and the New Jersey plans were implemented in order to ensure that all states have equal representation.

• The lower house plan would allow the people from each state to elect candidates for the branch of the legislature that would become known as the House of Representatives.

• The upper house plan was created from the New Jersey Plan and allowed each state to have equal representation in the form of representation in the form of senators that were elected by the public. Under this plan each state would be allowed two senators, no matter the size of the state’s population.

Under the compromise, both the larger and smaller states were able to have equal representation based on the size of their populations.

Reason for the Great Compromise

During the early years of the American government it was somewhat difficult to establish fair representation. There were different colonies, each of which was a different size in regards to population.

This caused some worry amongst the smaller states that their opinions and views would not be acknowledged as fully as those states which had larger populations and thus, a more influential say in the way that the government would work. Ultimately, the delegates representing each state wanted to create a plan that would allow each state to have fair representation while also acknowledging that there were some states because of their size that would have a greater say.

Initial Options for Representation

Initially there was much discussion about how the colonies would be represented.

Virginia Plan

One of the options was the Virginia Plan. This plan was created by the delegate Edmund Randolph and involved creating a two-part or bicameral legislation.

The two portions of this legislature would have a lower house, where representation would be based on the population of each state, and a upper house where the representation would be granted based on the election from members of the lower house.

The upper house members would be selected by a vote of the American people in that particular state.

The major concern with the Virginia Plan was that smaller states would not have the same amount of representation as the larger state.

New Jersey Plan

In response to the concerns about the Virginia Plan, delegate William Patterson proposed the New Jersey Plan which was based on a single house legislature where all the states were represented equally no matter the size of their populations.

Compromise Also Established Important Processes

This compromise was the basis of the current American legislature and also affected other very significant decisions:

• The controversial three-fifths compromise which allowed states with a large slave population to count slaves as a portion of a person for state representation purposes.
• The way in which bills were presented to the government for review, with all bills starting in the House and needing to be reviewed and passed by the Senate.

This compromise move by the American government long ago was the creation of a governmental system that is still in effect to this day.