 The proposal also specified that each senator — rather than each state delegation — was to get one vote , and that each state would have multiple senators . This meant that the senators would each be voting individually , rather than as a bloc by state as delegates always had . This made senators free agents , presumably acting on behalf of their state at large , rather than as mere agents of the state legislatures . As such , the Senate would bring a federal character to the government , not because senators were elected by state legislatures , but because each state was equally represented in the Senate , which was the main aim of the smaller states . It was this , not simply Madison 's earlier agreement to replace the word national with the word federal , that convinced the delegates that the Constitution had a federal character . The final document was thus a mixture of Madison 's original " national " constitution and the desired " federal " Constitution that many of the delegates sought . 
