However, most delegates agreed that the state legislatures would choose the representatives to the second legislative branch, the Senate. It remained that way for more than 100 years. In 1913, the states approved the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment legalized the direct election of Senators by the people.

How long would lawmakers serve? Roger Sherman of Connecticut thought representatives to the House should be elected every year. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts agreed. He thought a longer term would lead to a dictatorship.

James Madison of Virginia protested. "It will take almost one year," he said, "just for lawmakers to travel to and from the seat of government!" Madison proposed a three-year term. But the delegates finally agreed on two years.

There were many ideas about the term for senators. A few delegates thought they should be elected for life. In the end, the convention agreed on a Senate term of six years.

Next came a debate about the pay for elected officials. How much should they get? Or should they be paid at all?

Some delegates thought the states should pay their representatives to the national legislature. Others said the national legislature should decide its own pay and take it from the national treasury.

That idea, James Madison argued, was shameful. He thought the amount should be set by the Constitution. Again, Madison lost the argument. The Constitution states only that lawmakers will be paid for their services and that the money will come from the national treasury.