<P> The Connecticut Compromise (also known as the Great Compromise of 1787 or Sherman Compromise) was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution . It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation of the states in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally among the states . Each state would have two representatives in the upper house . </P> <P> On May 29, 1787, Edmund Randolph of the Virginia delegation proposed the creation of a bicameral legislature . Under his proposal, membership in both houses would be allocated to each state proportional to its population; however, candidates for the lower house would be nominated and elected by the people of each state . Candidates for the upper house would be nominated by the state legislatures of each state and then elected by the members of the lower house . This proposal was known as the Virginia Plan . </P>

The great compromise at the constitutional convention of 1787 was important because it