Who authored the Great Compromise?

Who authored the Great Compromise?

• A. Roger Sherman
• B. James Wilson
• C. Alexander Hamilton
• D. Benjamin Franklin

Answer: (A)

Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, authored the Great Compromise. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, he proposed a two-house Congress: representation by population in the lower house and equal representation (two senators per state) in the upper house. This arrangement blended the Virginia Plan’s preference for proportional representation with the New Jersey Plan’s idea of equal state representation, resolving the deadlock between large and small states and moving the drafting of the Constitution forward. The compromise is named after Sherman’s state and the plan he proposed. Other prominent delegates—like James Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin—were influential, but Sherman is the one associated with creating this specific solution.

Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, authored the Great Compromise. At the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, he proposed a two-house Congress: representation by population in the lower house and equal representation (two senators per state) in the upper house. This arrangement blended the Virginia Plan’s preference for proportional representation with the New Jersey Plan’s idea of equal state representation, resolving the deadlock between large and small states and moving the drafting of the Constitution forward. The compromise is named after Sherman’s state and the plan he proposed. Other prominent delegates—like James Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin—were influential, but Sherman is the one associated with creating this specific solution.