Philadelphia Convention Case Study

Another hot topic of the Constitutional Convention was representation in Congress. Smaller states opposed the Virginia Plan to determine representation by populations, believing that they would be overpowered by the larger states. In response, they proposed the New Jersey Plan, which proposed representation equal to each state. A committee of eleven men stepped in and developed the Great

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 Virginia Plan suggested for a bicameral legislative branch. The Constitutional Convention originally was held in Philadelphia to alter the Articles of Confederation, the federal government, under the Articles, was too weak to enforce their laws and therefore had no power. James Madison, headed the Virginia Delegates, he shapes the debate by instantly drawing up and presenting a proposal. Edmund Randolph, then Governor of Virginia officially put the suggestion before the Convention on May 29, 1787. (loc.gov)

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

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

In conclusion, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had 3 influential plans were Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut Compromise plans. Virginia and New Jersey plans were opposite to each other between the benefits of large states and small states, but Connecticut Compromise plan satisfied the conditions of these two, was accepted into the final form of the U.S. Constitution. Compromises had been necessary at every point, and in some case produced unforeseen results. However the Constitutional succeeded beyond the hopes of its strongest

A. There are many ways on how the New Jersey Plan differs from the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan had a national legislature of two houses, one elected directly by the people, the other chosen by the first house from nominations made by the state assemblies. The Virginia Plan also provided for an executive elected by Congress. The New Jersey Plan retained the unicameral legislature in which each state possessed one vote but gave Congress new powers to tax and regulate trade.

The Virginia Plan is a document created by James Madison, presented on May 8, 1787, to the Constitutional Convention by Edmund Randolph (Munson). It entailed a proposal for a bicameral legislature, a plan to separate the legislative branch into two chambers, “the National Legislature ought to consist of two branches” (Madison). The Virginia Plan also suggested that the powers of the government be separated into branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. The significance of the Virginia plan was its call for a proportional representation of the states, which would result in a strong national government. This planned upstaged the smaller states, such as New Jersey, since they feared that the states would no longer have a voice in their society, creating the New Jersey Plan.

The Virginia Plan was favored by the big states. It envisioned a bicameral legislature with both houses having membership proportional to population. The New Jersey plan was favored by the small states. It called for each state's representation in each house to be equal to every other states. The delegates considered whether the legislature should be elected directly by the people or by the state legislatures. The usual arguments against allowing

In May of 1787, fifty-five delegates from all states except for Rhode Island held a convention in Philadelphia (Henretta, 2012, pg.184). The convention later known as the Philadelphia Convention. The goal was to determine the future of the Republican Government. The nationalist composed of an elite group of well-educated men. Unfortunately, the most influential members such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, and Patrick Henry would not be attending (Henretta, 2012, pg. 185). The convention would back down from the demands of delegates from southern states. Without the importation of African slaves continued their states would not be part of the Union (Henretta, 2012, pg. 187). Leaving the southern states free to determine the legal ramifications of slavery in their own states. For the sake of more arguments, not for lack of concern. Delegates recognized the contradiction of slavers and the republican principle, but assume that it would eventually die out.

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.

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

Before the convention, there was a heated debate on whether the convention should be hosted at Chicago or Miami. Both Chicago’s mayor Richard Maley and President Johnson wanted the convention to stay in Chicago. Other Democrats, however, wanted the convention to be moved to Miami, where the Republican National Convention was taking place. Miami was suitable for the convention and could be easily be reported. In 1968, Chicago was plagued with race riots and strikes. The strikes had left communication lines in an unusable state, making reporting of the convention much harder. Richard Maley and President Johnson both opposed having the convention in Miami. There are rumors that President Lyndon B. Johnson said that “Miami is not