Prior to the 17th amendment, which provided for popular election of Senators, the state legislatures elected the Senators.
Senators thus represented the institution of the State, while the State's Congressmen represented the people of the State.
The 17th Amendment is thus a major reason why the states have lost so much power to the federal government over the past 100 years.
Thank you
few people understand the importance of that distinction
Which is why that without the 17th Amendment David Dewhurst would currently be the junior senator from Texas, Bob Bennett would be the junior senator from Utah, and Thad Cochran would be getting ready for the general election.
The Constitution is a tapestry, where if you pull one thread out the whole thing begins to unravel.
You are correct that the Senate represented the states and the House represented the people of the states - in the federal government. But the people are also represented by the state legislatures, too, so the people are doubly represented.
The Constitution relied on the state legislatures to be the body that was closest to the people, which is why the 9th and 10th amendments are so important. It reinforces the expectation that most of the governing of the people would be done by the state legislatures, and that the federal government would be free to focus on international relations on behalf of all of the states, and on disputes between the states.
Today, the federal government is usurping more and more territory that had been the domain of the states. The federal government is mandating over the people food choices, health choices, education choices, housing choices, business choices, family choices, recreational choices, religious choices, transportation choices, property choices, and more.
This is because the 17th amendment removed the firewall that separated the states and the federal government, and that resulted in the federal government running wild without nothing to contain it.
-PJ