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In the days when the Constitution was promulgated, only the House of Representatives was open to general election. The Senate was appointed by the State Legislatures. (This would change with the 17th Amendment, which made Senators popularly elected over 100 years later.)

Since members of the House would be elected by the people, the terms were short to reflect the fact that people's tendency would be to become impatient with the government and wish to elect new officials quickly. As for the Senators, since they were chosen by the State Legislatures, the longer terms would make allow the legislatures to spend less time worrying about the Federal Government and more time dealing with local laws.

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12y ago

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