What compromise created equal state representation in the U.S. Senate in 1787?

The Connecticut Compromise created equal state representation in the U.S. Senate in 1787.

Also called the Great Compromise or Sherman Compromise, it was reached during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Delegates were divided over whether representation should be based on population or whether each state should have the same vote. The agreement created a bicameral legislature with different systems in its two chambers.

The House of Representatives would use proportional representation, giving larger states more representatives. The Senate would give every state two senators, regardless of population. This structure balanced the interests of populous states and smaller states and helped keep the convention from collapsing over legislative representation.

The compromise is sometimes confused with the Three-Fifths Compromise, which concerned how enslaved people would be counted for representation and taxation. The Connecticut Compromise addressed the basic design of Congress. Its equal-Senate principle remains protected by Article V of the Constitution, which requires a state’s consent before its equal suffrage in the Senate can be removed.