<P> On June 14, when the Convention was ready to consider the report on the Virginia plan, William Paterson of New Jersey requested an adjournment to allow certain delegations more time to prepare a substitute plan . The request was granted, and, on the next day, Paterson submitted nine resolutions embodying necessary amendments to the Articles of Confederation, which was followed by a vigorous debate . On June 19, the delegates rejected the New Jersey Plan and voted to proceed with a discussion of the Virginia Plan . The small States became increasingly discontented, and some threatened to withdraw . On July 2, the Convention was deadlocked over giving each State an equal vote in the upper house, with five States in the affirmative, five in the negative, and one divided . </P> <P> The problem was referred to a committee consisting of one delegate from each State to reach a compromise . On July 5, the committee submitted its report, which became the basis for the "Great Compromise" of the Convention . The report recommended that in the upper house each State should have an equal vote and in the lower house, each State should have one representative for every 40,000 inhabitants, counting slaves as three - fifths of an inhabitant, and that money bills should originate in the lower house (not subject to amendment by the upper chamber). </P> <P> After six weeks of turmoil, North Carolina switched its vote to equal representation per state and Massachusetts abstained, and a compromise was reached, being called the "Great Compromise ." In the "Great Compromise," every state was given equal representation, previously known as the New Jersey Plan, in one house of Congress, and proportional representation, known before as the Virginia Plan, in the other . Because it was considered more responsive to majority sentiment, the House of Representatives was given the power to originate all legislation dealing with the federal budget and revenues / taxation, per the Origination Clause . </P> <P> Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, both of the Connecticut delegation, created a compromise that, in a sense, blended the Virginia (large - state) and New Jersey (small - state) proposals regarding congressional apportionment . Ultimately, however, its main contribution was in determining the apportionment of the Senate . Sherman sided with the two - house national legislature of the Virginia Plan but proposed "That the proportion of suffrage in the 1st . Branch (house) should be according to the respective numbers of free inhabitants; and that in the second branch or Senate, each State should have one vote and no more ." Although Sherman was well liked and respected among the delegates, his plan failed at first . It was not until July 23 that representation was finally settled . </P>

The great compromise settled the issue of representation in congress by allowing