What agreement, known as the Great Compromise, created a two-house Congress at the 1787 Constitutional Convention?

The Connecticut Compromise, also called the Great Compromise, created a two-house Congress at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

The agreement resolved a dispute between large and small states over congressional representation. The Virginia Plan favored representation based largely on population, which would have given larger states greater influence. The New Jersey Plan sought equal representation for each state.

Under the Connecticut Compromise, the House of Representatives would be based on population, while the Senate would give every state two senators. Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut played important roles in advancing the proposal, which was accepted in July 1787.

The arrangement remains a defining feature of the U.S. Constitution. It combined population-based representation with equal state representation, creating a bicameral legislature. The compromise did not settle every major dispute at the convention; debates over slavery, executive power, and federal authority continued through the convention’s final weeks.