Selecting U.S. Senators
Selecting U.S. Senators
The delegates viewed the U.S. Senate as a small body of leaders who could stop the unruly democratic urges of the House of Representatives. Representation in the Senate became the principle political battleground between the broad and narrow nationalists. The proponents of the New Jersey Plan staunchly defended equal representation in the Senate. James Madison and his closest allies fought for proportional representation with equal intensity. As antagonism over representation in the Senate grew more intense, some delegates who supported the Virginia Plan began to seek compromise. In July, a Grand Committee on Representation recommended the Connecticut Compromise that provided for proportional representation in the House, equal state representation in the Senate, and House control of tax and spending legislation. This compromise changed the path of the Convention by irreversibly fracturing Madison's coalition.
Keywords: U.S. Senate, Connecticut Compromise, Grand Committee on Representation, equal state representation, state legislatures, Madison's coalition
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