What Was the Connecticut Compromise

[Keith Broaders]

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The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise or Sherman Compromise, was a key agreement reached during the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787 that resolved a major dispute between larger and smaller states over how states should be represented in the new federal legislature.

The larger states favored the Virginia Plan, which proposed representation based on population, while smaller states supported the New Jersey Plan, which called for equal representation regardless of size. Proposed by Connecticut delegates Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, the compromise created a bicameral (two-house) Congress: the House of Representatives with seats apportioned by population, and the Senate with two seats per state for equal representation.

It was approved on July 16, 1787, and became a foundational element of the U.S. Constitution, balancing the interests of populous and less populous states.