Every citizen gets a voice.

One triumph was the establishment of a government where every citizen had an actual elected delegate to represent their interests (in contrast to the British Parliament, where colonists were only virtually represented).  The representation was also proportional, due to the population-adjusted and district-based model for the House of Representatives.  This helped ensure the House chamber was a ​​fair reflection of the citizens represented.

“Divide the largest state into ten or twelve districts and it will be found that there will be no peculiar interests...which will not be within the knowledge of the Representative of the district.” - James Madison, writing in Federalist Paper 56, about the value of district-based representation in providing all citizens with a delegate who could serve as their voice in the government (Library of Congress, 1809).

“[A representative assembly] should be in miniature an exact portrait of
the people at large. It should think, feel, reason and act like them.”
- John Adams, describing his vision of representative government,
in his 1776 Thoughts On Government
(Library of Congress, 1776).

Article I Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures the authority to prescribe the “time, place and manner” of elections for Senate and House representatives (but also stipulates that Congress may make laws to alter those regulations).
(National Archives, 1787).

States are allowed to manage the congressional election process.

Another triumph was in defusing states’ concerns about creating a federal government that was too strong.  This was accomplished by permitting states to control how their House representatives were elected and apportioned (through, for example, the drawing of congressional district lines).

The new model
​addresses an old gripe.

With actual, proportional representation, every citizen had a clear avenue for influencing the policies that affected them (including taxation).

John Hancock writing on behalf of the first annual Congress, commenting on the new responsibilities of the states, including apportioning their new representatives.
(Library of Congress, 1777).

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"I think one of the primary benefits of a district-based representative is the ability to get to know people.  You know people in the community, you know what issues they care about - and it's so much better for me because then I can really represent them.  And I understand them.  When you're looking to deal with legislation, you just don't create it out of 'whole cloth.'  You want to be responsive to what people's needs are...  people know me, and I know them."

- United States Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, representative from Connecticut's 3rd district, describing the benefits of district-based representative government (from student-conducted telephone interview on May 9, 2019)

Student interview with Connecticut State Representative John K. Hampton, ​conducted on February 14, 2019 at the Simsbury Public Library.

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Historical Context

First Cracks Appear