National Archives and Records Administration

“ For the leaders of the American Revolution, legislatures were the most important part of any government. It was through legislatures that the people made their will known. When the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 to amend the Articles of Confederation, most of the delegates agreed that the legislature should have two houses with greatly expanded powers. There was disagreement, however, over the type of representation. Heavily populated states supported James Madison's efforts to base representation on population alone. ”

“ The Constitutional Convention struggled for weeks over how representatives to a national legislature should be chosen. The report of the Grand Committee, shown here, represented an effort to find a compromise between the positions of the large and small states. ”