On the
other hand, the smaller States were tenacious of their equality in the
Union. Of the very smallest, one, as we have seen, had sent no
representatives to the Convention, and the other had instructed her
delegates, unconditionally, to insist upon the maintenance of absolute
equality in the Congress. This difference gave more trouble than any
other question that came before the Convention, and for some time
threatened to prove irreconcilable and to hinder any final agreement. It
was ultimately settled by a compromise. Provision was made for the
representation of the people of the States in one branch of the Federal
Legislature (the House of Representatives) in proportion to their
numbers; in the other branch (the Senate), for the equal representation
of the States as such. The perpetuity of this equality was furthermore
guaranteed by a stipulation that no State should ever be deprived of its
equal suffrage in the Senate without its own consent.[31] This
compromise required no sacrifice of principle on either side, and no
provision of the Constitution has in practice proved more entirely
satisfactory.
It is not necessary, and would be beyond the scope of this work, to
undertake to give a history of the proceedings of the Convention of
1787. That may be obtained from other sources. All that is requisite for
the present purpose is to notice a few particulars of special
significance or relevancy to the subject of inquiry.
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