Great Compromise Vs New Jersey Plan Essay

The United States congress is made up of a bicameral legislature. The framers of the constitution were the ones who decided on this form of legislature due to the great compromise. The framers did not want to give the executive branch a massive amount of power, which would cause them to become tyrannical in their rule. However, when deciding how to form the Legislature there were some complications. On one side, the larger states suggested that every state have representatives based on the population of each state, thus was called The Virginia plan. On the other side the smaller states suggested that every state received the same number of representatives, this was known as the New Jersey Plan. Due to the constitutional convention not going anywhere the Connecticut Compromise or Great Compromise was suggested.
While there are many powers that the Senate and The House Of Representatives share. There are also powers granted strictly to each chamber of the bicameral legislature. One of the powers granted only to the United States Senate is the power to confirm the positions of federal judges, cabinet secretaries, military officers and other federal officials. The senate was likely given this power in order to maintain the balance of the executive and judicial branches, making sure that both …show more content…
One of the powers held exclusively by the House is the power to initiate revenue bills, these bills impose federal taxes. It is likely that the house of representatives was given this power because they are the larger group. The House is supposed to represent the American populous and thus would make sense that the chamber of congress made to represent the people, would be the ones to control the taxes of the government said to be ‘by the people, for the people.’ In combination, both the exclusive and shared powers make the bicameral legislature a very effective