Question

In 2016, the five smallest states held roughly 0.5 percent of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 10 percent of the seats in the U.S. Senate. These differing levels of representation of the five small states were the result of which decision during the Constitutional Convention?

Answer 1

The Connecticut Compromise.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was tasked with drafting the Constitution of the United States. Regarding the legislative power, a bicameral legislature was the most accepted solution, with a Senate as the upper house and a Congress as the lower house. However, there were disagreements over how to allocate the seats to each house. Larger states favored a proportional distribution based on population size, while smaller states rejected this proposal over fears of their interests being trampled upon by the larger states. The debate was heated and dragged on for weeks.

Roger Sherman of the Connecticut delegation proposed a compromise solution: the Congress seats would be allocated according to population size, but all states would have equal representation in the Senate. The proposal was finally accepted by the Constitutional Convention on 23 July, 1787. This is what is known as the Connecticut Compromise.