Advantages Of The Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan sparked debate over its legislative representative proposals. The plan proposed representation of the states by population. This proposition favored the larger states. The Jersey Plan also known as the smaller state plan rallied for equal representation for all states. A compromise was finally reached. One house of the legislature would consist of two representatives from each state. This satisfied the small states. The second house of the legislature would consist of representatives based on population, thus satisfying the larger states. The establishment of a fair measure to apply taxation and representation in the legislature was described in the Federalist Papers: The Apportionment of Members among the States. The government would conduct a census that would prevent the states from understating their population for taxation and overstating their population for representation. The “Great Compromise” resolving the issue of representation did not mean that the federalists and anti-federalists had come to agreement on the Constitution.

Madison’s national veto also weakened the Virginia Plan, since the national government’s supreme judgment could only cause resentment by local authorities grappling with purely local issues. To counteract Madison’s bold proposal, delegates from the smaller states, headed by New Jersey’s William Paterson, offered a competing plan, the New Jersey Plan. To its credit, the New Jersey Plan amended the Articles of Confederation by adding a plural executive and a judiciary appointed by the executive branch. The New Jersey Plan proposed proportional representation in both houses of Congress to protect the smaller states. Although the addition of an executive would have strengthened the existing confederation, it resulted in a weak plural head of state. Furthermore, since the New Jersey Plan merely amended the Articles, and since the Articles had never been amended given the necessity of a unanimous vote by all of the states, the Plan was almost certainly doomed to

After the colonies gained independence from England on July 4, 1776, they acknowledged the need for a new form of government. Their current government (the Articles of Confederation) was defective and needed emendation. For instance, Congress had the legal right to declare war and perform on foreign policy, but don’t have the right to demand revenues from the states. This was, in fact, an issue that needed to be solved because it endangers the existence of the country. For example, since Congress lacked the power to raise military funds, it could not provide sufficient support for the armed forces. Congress was forced to demobilize the Army after the revolutionary war. It would have been very terrible for the newly formed country (The United States) if the British or the Spanish had attacked (page, 39). Another weakness of the Article was demonstrated by the Shays Rebellion. It illustrated how the central government could not protect the citizens from armed Rebellion. The colonists called for a constitutional convention to discuss how to correct their flaws. The Virginia plan was introduced, which advocated that representation should be based on population. It basically called for a legislative branch with one house that also has the authority to regulate trade and taxation. It called for a separation of powers, leaving three branches in charge: the legislative, the executive, and the Judicial branches. The Virginia plan would allow big States to control the presidency which

The two major plans proposed during the 1787 constitutional convention was The Virginia Plan and The New Jersey Plans. The Virginia Plans called for a strong national government branched into judicial, legislative and executive branches. The legislative branch would have two houses- the first house being chosen by the people and the second house by

However, this plan favors the larger states such as Virginia when it comes to voting. Article two of the Virginia Plan clearly states that the “rights of suffrage in the National Legislature ought to be proportioned to the Quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants…” If the Virginia Plan were to fully be put in effect, this would mean that smaller states would get little or no say while larger states would dominate.

However, some ideas from it were used in the new constitution. The Virginia Plan was used, but many delegates felt that any new government would need new powers and a new organization to exercise those powers fully.

During the constitutional convention, two plans were proposed to solve the problem of state representation in the government. The first of the two plans was the Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison and the second being the New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Patterson. Both plans consisted of three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judiciary. however, the New Jersey Plan allowed for multiple executives. Additionally, the Virginia Plan had a bicameral legislature, both houses based on state's’ population or its wealth. The New Jersey Plan, on the other hand, has a unicameral legislature, with its single house giving a single vote to each state

In the “Virginia Plan vs. New Jersey Plan” both plans called for a strong national government with 3 branches which led to the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise provided for a bicameral congress. The bicameral structure wanted to accommodate both large and small states unlike the unicameral which only included the small vote.

Of the many plans to structure the government present the two that drew the most attention were the Virginia and the New Jersey Plans. Both of these plans were decimated by members of the convention for various reason. The plan from Virginia was viewed as a structure that would be more beneficial to larger states because it recommended an executive and judicial branches of government in addition to a two chambered congress with all representation based on the population of the state which was less beneficial to smaller states such as New Jersey. While the plan recommend called the New Jersey Plan would be just the opposite of the Virginia Plan since it called for a stronger national government to support the Articles of the Confederation with the ability to tax and regulate commerce between states. The New Jersey Plan also called for a single chambered congress and each state having one single vote. Deliberations lasted many weeks until finally

This plan was known as the Great Compromise that combined element of both Virginia’s and New Jersey’s plans to appease both the small and large states. The plan had 2 house legislatures, initially called the “lower house” and the “upper house” due to their location in the two story building that would house them. Besides, upper house is the senate with 2 members per state, whereas lower house is the House of Representatives, based on population. According to the plan, all states would have the same number of seats.

It made several proposals regarding the structure and powers of the federal government. Under the Virginia Plan, both houses in the legislature would have their representatives decided according to a state's number of free citizens. It was assumed by Madison that both large and small states would agree to this proposal; however, the smallest states were opposed because they knew they would have less Congressional power under this governmental structure. Roche uses words like "militant" and "truly radical" when describing the structure of the federal government under the Virginia Plan. Both he and Lance Banning relate the support Madison's plan received to the delegates' memories of the behavior of state legislatures under the Articles of Confederation. It is not surprising, therefore, that some delegates first supported a plan that would protect against abuses of power by the states. In response to the Virginia Plan, states' righters began supporting the New Jersey Plan, which called for equal representation in every state. Roche describes it as a "reversion to the status quo under the Articles of Confederation with but minor

Delegates feared that the national government would have too much power over the states. William Paterson came up with the New Jersey Plan. The Plan proposed for changes in the Articles of Confederation that would let Congress regulate trade and tax imports, but would maintain state power. The New Jersey Plan proposed a single legislature, a government that relied on the authority of the state governments, more than one executive and one vote of legislation for each state. The plan allowed each state to keep its independence. The plan did not stop the states from violating foreign treaties, or from entering into treaties, or wars. James Madison was against the New Jersey Plan. Madison insisted that the New Jersey Plan did not improve any of the flaws of the Articles of Confederation. The Virginia Plan was finally approved as the plan to be used to construct the new government. The approval of the Virginia Plan meant that the delegates were now committed to creating a new

Virginia plan placed a lot of power in the legislative branch, and had a system very similar to the one we use today. The branch is split up into two houses, the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate. The number of officials in these institutions would be based solely on population, or their contribution to the federation. They would be voted on by the people, for the House of Reps, and the Senate would then be chosen by government officials. This was a very scary plan to the smaller states, who much rather favored the New Jersey plan. This option outlined a very equal playing field for all states. There is a one house legislature system, with equal representation across the board. All decisions were made based on the state’s

The plan of the delegates was to remedy the defects in the Articles of Confederation, but Virginia delegates had a new idea in mid and boldly proposed the Virginia Plan, which introduced a whole new national government instead of the confederation. The New Jersey Plan was also presented as an alternative, but it was based mainly on autonomous states being represented by a single chamber. When bicameral legislation was approved it effectively made the decision for the Virginia Plan, and allowed for the New