[Jacquerie]

Actually, the idea of popularly elected senators began in the early 19th century. Progressive demagogues in particular pushed for it in the early 20th.

A Senate of the States - The 17th Amendment Part I of III.

[Nateman]

There is no denying the State Legislatures gave up an important power when they went to direct voting of Senators. So why did they let that go? Because voters in their state would vote them out if they voted for a Senator they did not like. By passing that power to the public at large the politicians removed another barrier to their continued feeding at the public trough.

[Nateman]

Your article does a good job of explaining how the 17th was sold to Congress and the public. In the end , however , it had to be ratified by 3/4’s of the Legislatures. Politicians vote based on two reasons, the one they feed the public and the REAL reason. They knew they were giving up an important power and my explanation is why they REALLY did it.