The Virginia Plan wanted a legislature in which states received representation in proportion to the size of their population, while the New Jersey plan wanted a legislature that gave each state equal representation, regardless of the size of its population.

Introduced to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison’s Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The plan called for a legislature divided into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with proportional representation.

James Madison created the Virginia Plan. Supporters of the Virginia Plan included James Madison, George Washington, Edmund Randolph, and the states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Terms in this set (7)

• Virginia have bicameral (2 houses)
• New Jersey have unicameral (1 house)
• Virginia representation was based on population.
• New Jersey representation was based on equal representation.
• Executive, Judicial, & Legislative.
• Large states favored Virginia Plan because it was based on population.

According to the Virginia Plan, states with a large population would have more representatives than smaller states. Large states supported this plan, while smaller states generally opposed it. Under the New Jersey Plan, the unicameral legislature with one vote per state was inherited from the Articles of Confederation.

The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral house, representation based on population, and favored the lager states. The New Jersey Plan called for a unicameral house, equal representation for all states, and, therefore, favored no state based on population.

The Virginia Plan is better because it’s basically saying that representation is based on the size of the state. If you have a big state and one representative, it won’t work because one person can’t make decisions for the whole state. The more representatives there are, the better it will be for the state.

What was the main point of disagreement between supporters of the Virginia and New Jersey plans? popular sovereignty. a majority needed to conduct business. Why did leaders decide that only nine of the thirteen States would need to ratify the Constitution for it to take effect?

The smaller states opposed the Virginia Plan because the resolution for proportional representation would mean that smaller states would have less say in government than the larger states. If the Virginia Plan was agreed each state would have a different number of representatives based on the state’s population.

It made sure that small states and larger states would have the same number of representatives. Large states were states that had large populations. The delegates from large states thought it was unfair that equal representation was unfair.

As one of their first acts, the delegates adopted rules, three of which invoked secrecy on themselves—“that no copy be taken of any entry on the journal during the sitting of the House without the leave of the House, that members only be permitted to inspect the journal, and that nothing spoken in the House be printed.

Under the ordinance, slavery was forever outlawed from the lands of the Northwest Territory, freedom of religion and other civil liberties were guaranteed, the resident Indians were promised decent treatment, and education was provided for.

James Madison, America’s fourth President (1809-1817), made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing The Federalist Papers, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. In later years, he was referred to as the “Father of the Constitution.”

Rhode Island

Madison argued strongly for a strong central government that would unify the country. The Convention delegates met secretly through the summer and finally signed the proposed U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.

For Madison, the answer was clear: everybody. The power of constitutional interpretation is not vested exclusively in any one branch or institution of government—including the courts—but is instead divided and shared among all of them, and by officers of state governments as well.