The 17th Amendment was ratified in 1913.
You know what else we got in 1913?
The federal income tax, with ratification the 16th Amendment. And creation of the Federal Reserve.
The timing of all 3 was not a coinkydink.
Why all passed in 1913 is a good study.
Ralph Rossum wrote “Federalism, the Supreme Court and the 17th Amendment” a few years ago. I deduced from my reading that the press was pushing for all those amendments, and Woodrow Wilson surfed the political waves.
Senators were criticized as elitists controlled by big steel and railroads. Maybe yes, maybe no - it depends on what your meaning of ‘control’ is - but they stopped the desire for the masses to vote for benefits from the treasury, and the corruption of judicial appointments.
I wrote that the State-appointed Senators were the guardians of the Tenth Amendment. Now, the States have no official check on government control.