How Did William Patterson Introduced The New Jersey Plan

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

Virginia plan was the first and large plan drafted by James Madison and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional

The Virginia Plan struck opposition among delegates from the smaller states and thus a competing plan, presented by William Patterson, known as the New Jersey Plan, or Small State Plan, came into action. This plan kept federal powers rather limited and created no new Congress. Instead, the plan enlarged some of the supremacies then held by the Continental Congress. It also called for a plural executive branch and a federal court system like the Virginia Plan. This plan was not as highly sought out as the Virginia Plan, so in turn was rejected which caused the supporters of the Virginia Plan to make amends to the smaller states. This in turn resulted in members of the Senate being elected by the state legislatures.

The New Jersey Plan was presented by William Paterson on June 15, 1787 (The Great Compromise). The plan pointed out the disadvantages of having a strong national government. They feared an imbalance of powers from the state to the government, as well as the president having an overabundance of power. Presently, to keep the power to the states, they suggested each state have the same number of representatives. In attempts to repel the Virginia Plan, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Delaware gave a document that advocated for the lack of government powers, offering one legislative branch (The Great Compromise). They believed that the plan for a strong national government will result in the

On the other hand, delegates from less populous states favored the New Jersey Plan which declared that all states would have an equal amount of votes. This idea goes back to the Articles of Confederation giving each state one vote. Both ideas were strongly reinforced by their respective sides, but they needed to be combined together in a way that would satisfy both large and small states.

The first was called the Virginia plan, and was developed by James Madison. It proposed two houses, both based on population, which that the larger states had more say than the smaller ones. The second proposal was the New Jersey plan, proposed by William Patterson. This proposal wanted one house where all states got equal

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

William Paterson (Patterson) was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1745. When he was almost 2 years of age, his family emigrated to America, disembarking at New Castle, DE. While the father traveled about the country, apparently selling tinware, the family lived in New London, other places in Connecticut, and in Trenton, NJ. In 1750 he settled in Princeton, NJ. There, he became a merchant and manufacturer of tin goods. His prosperity enabled William to attend local private schools and the College of New Jersey (later Princeton). He took a B.A. in 1763 and an M.A. 3 years later.

The Framers of the Constitution created the Virginia Plan, made by James Madison, to state the concerns of the large states. This plan created a legislature that was based on population. So, the bigger the population the more members were elected for the House of Representatives. The members would then elect two senators for each state.

They also argued that states would be represented in proportion to their populations. While the larger states approved, smaller states opposed the plan. After, the New Jersey plan was put forward. “It proposed a single legislature in which each state would have one vote, which would maintain the parity between small and large states” (Keene, Cornell, & O’Donnell., 2012, p. 144). This plan would allow smaller states to have the same power as larger states, much like the Articles of Confederation, but with the presence of a strong central government.

On May 1787 fifty-five delegates met in Philadelphia to attempt to forge a new constitution. Edmund Randolph and James Madison introduced the Virginia plan, while William Paterson introduced the New Jersey plan. The Virginia plan only benefits the large states, but the New Jersey plan gives every state equality. Therefore, the New Jersey plan would be better and fair for the country.