Roger Sherman
Connecticut delegate who proposed the bicameral compromise and served in both chambers of the First Congress.
Overview
Sherman is the only person to sign the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. At the 1787 Convention he proposed the Connecticut Compromise, giving every state one vote in the Senate and proportional representation in the House, the formula that made the Constitution possible. He was elected to the House in 1789 and then to the Senate in 1791, serving until his death in 1793. A cobbler and self-taught lawyer by background, he remained a steady Federalist supporter of the Washington administration and a practical bridge between large and small states.
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