The Great Compromise

The biggest fight was not about liberty or rights — it was about power. Large states wanted representation based on population. Small states wanted equal representation. The argument nearly destroyed the convention.

Roger Sherman's solution: two chambers of Congress. The House of Representatives based on population, the Senate with two seats per state regardless of size. This is why Wyoming, with about 580,000 people, has the same two senators as California, with nearly 40 million — small states traded population for equal footing, and that bargain still shapes American politics today.