Great Compromise
Senate-House legislative deal
The Great Compromise was the 1787 agreement at the U.S.
Constitutional Convention that resolved the dispute between large and small states over congressional representation.
It established a bicameral legislature: the House of Representatives with seats proportional to population, and the Senate with equal representation for each state.
Also called the Connecticut Compromise.
- Constitutional ConventionDocument-drafting assembly of founders
- U.S. ConstitutionSupreme law of America
- founding documentEstablishing text of origin
- SenateLegislative body, often bicameral's elder
- federal systemGovernment with layered jurisdictions
James Madison · representation · slave states · free states · House of Representatives · republicanism · balance of power · democracy · equal representation · checks and balances · negotiation · federal government · states' rights · Philadelphia · bicameral legislature · legislative body · popular sovereignty · state sovereignty
Great Compromisedeadlock
Mutual blocking, no progress
impasse · stalemate · walkout · dissolution · constitutional crisis
Great Compromisewinner-take-all
Only champion receives reward
total victory · unconditional surrender · domination · imposition · majoritarianism
great, greater, greatest, greatly, greatness, compromise, compromises, compromised, compromising