The compromise over representation
Delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention disputed representation for more and less populous states. Proportional representation in both chambers favoured larger states, while smaller-state delegates sought equal state representation. The eventual arrangement combined a population-based House with two senators per state.
The chambers consequently differ in more than their names: population affects House seats, while each state receives the same number in the Senate. The Senate’s institutional history calls this the Great or Connecticut Compromise and describes the competing interests that shaped it.
Terms and methods of selection
Representatives serve two-year terms, while senators serve six-year terms in three staggered classes, with roughly one class elected every two years. The Senate’s rotation avoids replacing its entire elected membership at once and gives the two chambers different electoral rhythms.
The 1787 text assigned selection of senators to state legislatures. The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, changed selection to election by the people of each state. The original document must therefore be read with its amendments rather than treated as an unchanged account of current selection.
Shared legislation and distinct functions
Article I, Section 7 provides for bills passed by both chambers to be presented to the President and for reconsideration following a veto. Revenue-raising bills originate in the House, although the Senate may propose or agree to amendments. Shared legislation does not make every chamber function symmetrical.
The House has the sole power to impeach and the Senate the sole power to try impeachments. The President’s treaty-making and specified appointments involve Senate consent. Congressional bicameralism combines joint lawmaking with these separately assigned responsibilities.
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