The Connecticut Compromise gave each US state equal Senate representation while basing House representation on population.
Also called the Great Compromise of 1787 or the Sherman Compromise, the agreement settled one of the Constitutional Convention’s most divisive disputes. Large states favored representation based mainly on population, while smaller states feared losing influence in a national legislature dominated by their larger neighbors.
The compromise created a bicameral Congress with two different representation systems. In the House of Representatives, seats would be distributed according to population. In the Senate, every state would have equal representation, eventually set at two senators per state. This structure remains a defining feature of the US federal government.
A committee with one delegate from each participating state presented its report on July 5, 1787, and the convention adopted the arrangement in modified form. The agreement is not the same as the Three-Fifths Compromise, which addressed how enslaved people would be counted for representation and taxation. It also should not be confused with the New Jersey Plan, an alternative proposal favoring equal state representation.