However, it would not be beneficial to completely disregard bicameralism as the most important provision of the Constitution. The theoretically important writings of the framers, both those in favor of and those opposed to, serve as an excellent point of entry to both the subject of separation of powers and the underpinnings

In Notes on the State of Virginia, quoted at length by Madison, Jefferson writes that there is no difference between a government of one and a government of many representatives without a check on the power of the legislature: "It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely be as oppressive as one" (p.311). Though Virginia did divide its government into three branches, there were no barriers erected between the three powers, thus the executive and the judiciary branches were dependent for their "continuance" and "subsistence in office" on the legislature. Likewise, a single house, no matter what size the body, can become oppressive, as Jefferson warns, without the appropriate balance. In addition to a separation of powers amongst the branches of government, and indeed stemming from the arguments in support of it, a second house to counteract the actions of the first provides an additional defense from despotism and ambition.

Kurland, Philip B. & Lerner, Ralph. The Founders' Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

However, even in spite of these and other brilliant supports for bicameralism, the argument for the separation of the legislature into two houses seems to be almost a moot theoretical question. The doctrine of separation of powers already contained the philosophical groundwork for separation of the legislature. The framework for government that the Constitution outlines, although it does not explicitly refer to it, presupposes a separation of powers, and refines the meaning of the doctrine through its implicit expression of it (Kurland & Lerner 1987:311). This separation of powers, now so familiar to students of political science, should be considered important for its doctrine of checks and balances and what it implicitly states about the separation of the legislative branch. This theoretical base, this elementary embodiment of separation woven into the fabric of the Constitution, and the implicit suggestion of separation of the legislature that it also carries, defines it as the most important provision of the Constitution.

In The Founders Constitution, Kurland and Lerner write that, American acceptance of bicameralism stemmed from a combination of respect for the British constitution, their theoretical vision of a truly balanced government, and the examples already made by several states (p.355-6). The authors contend that bicameralism presented itself as a protection from "shortsighted and passionate" legislation, such as the legislation passed by Parliament that propelled the Colonists to declare independence. Indeed, safety from the passions and shortsightedness of an elite ruling class was precisely what compelled most colonies to adopt a r

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