What was the Great Compromise?

• A. A plan to ratify the Constitution
• B. The plan accepted at the Philadelphia Convention that called for two houses of government
• C. An agreement to form a federal court system
• D. A method to elect the President

Answer: (B)

The Great Compromise created a two-house Congress to settle the fight over representation. At the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, delegates approved a plan that combined ideas from both the large-state and small-state proposals: one chamber would give each state equal representation (the Senate), while the other would base representation on population (the House of Representatives). This arrangement, also called the Connecticut Compromise, balanced the interests of both sides and allowed the Constitution to move forward. It wasn’t about ratifying the Constitution, forming courts, or choosing the President; it established how states would be represented in Congress.