What was the Great Compromise and how was it important in the framing of the Constitution?

Answer 1

The Great Compromise took the ideas of the Virginia Plan (large state plan) and the New Jersey Plan (small state plan) and created a two house legislature (bicameral). The Senate would be made up of equal number of senators from each state, selected by the state legislatures. The House of Representatives would be elected by the people in each district and state, and based upon population representation. The more people living in the state, the more representatives the state would have. But even small states would be equally represented with the large states in the Senate. A bill would have to be approved by both houses before it became law. And only the House (the most representative of the people) could initiate money bills.

Answer 2

Also known as The Connecticut Compromise, the Great Compromise created a bicameral legislature made up of a lower (House of Representatives) and an upper (Senate) house in the proposed federal legislative branch. The compromise was created by the delegates from Connecticut at the Constitutional Convention. It combined the ideas found in the Virginia and New Jersey plans that had been introduced at the Convention. It provided that membership in the lower house would be in proportion to the state’s population, while membership in the upper house would be equal. This Compromise set the stage for future compromises at the Convention. One of the most important was theThree-Fifths Compromise that dealt with the issue of the counting of slaves for the purpose of taxation and representation.