Final answer:
The 'Big and Small States' section highlights the difficulties in agreeing upon a plan for representation in Congress during the Constitutional Convention, showing the divide between large and small states and leading to the Connecticut Compromise that balanced these interests. The correct option is B.
Step-by-step explanation:
The section titled 'Big and Small States' discusses the conflicts that arose during the creation of the United States Constitution regarding the apportionment of representation in the new national legislature.
The larger states, such as Virginia, favored the Virginia Plan, which proposed representation based on state population, giving them more influence in the national government. The smaller states feared being overshadowed by larger states and favored equal representation regardless of population size, as outlined in the New Jersey Plan.
This clash highlighted the difficulties in forming a united national government that balanced the interests of both large and small states.
The purpose of the 'Big and Small States' section is primarily to show how different state sizes made it hard for leaders to agree on a plan (option B).
It demonstrated the initial divide and the eventual compromise necessary to balance the power between big states that wanted legislative representation proportionate to their population and small states that wanted equal representation.
The Connecticut Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, resolved this by creating a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate. The correct option is B.