On July 12, 1776, The Continental Congress members were appointed “to prepare and digest the form of a confederation to be entered into between these colonies”, which in simpler terms means to … and that is just what they did. The first draft of the Articles of Confederation, which was the first formal form of Government in the newly free colonies, it was proposed and ratified by … Under the Articles of Confederation, the congress had no power to coordinate foreign policy or tax. Each state had a unicameral legislative with each only having one vote, while Congress was given most of the national governments power. It soon became very evident that the articles were a weak union between the states at best. James Madison and George Washington …show more content…
The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison, who wanted the Articles of Confederation to be corrected and more specific. Strangely, the plan was presented by the governor of Virginia, Edmund Randolph, who later on would not sign the constitution. This plan proposed a division of federal power into 3 separate branches; legislative Branch that would make the law, an executive branch that would enforce the law, and a judicial branch that was made to interpret the laws. Among other things, this plan was in favor of the votes by population. The smaller states opposed Madison’s plan because agreeing to it would give the larger states more power in government. Not soon after, New Jersey delegate William Paterson devised his own small states plan, known as The New Jersey Plan. Under this, each state would have one single vote no matter the population. After the plan did not pass Paterson left the convention in late July but soon returned to sign the constitution. Each state had a different idea of what was fair and could not compromise. It wasn’t until July 16th ,1787 that the fight for representation was settled by the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise. The Great Compromise was constructed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut and encompassed parts of William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan as well as James …show more content…
Their services include screening and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infections among other things regarding contraception. House speaker Paul Ryan has spoken out about Republicans plan to defund Planned Parenthood. I believe that we should continue to fund Planned Parenthood, this health center serves up to 2.5 million people each year from all different economic classes. Ever since Roe v. Wade, there has been serious controversy on abortion, and because of the mixed opinions I believe all federal funding for planned parenthood, would not be towards abortion, but for other sexual health
Richard R. Beeman describes the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as a “Revolution in Government” because the goal of the Constitutional Convention was not a plan to amend the Articles of Confederation; it was a plan to drastically reform the old form of government, thus, revolutionizing the governing document of that time. The convention set in motion the creation of a completely different form of government. Beeman’s article could also suggest that the relationships between the different politicians was also groundbreaking. For example when “the southern delegates are willing to compromise for the sake of harmony” it shows that they are willing to set aside their differences in order to establish a better form of government for the well-being of the country (Beeman).
How the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan Effected Representation The idea of equal representation has been debated many times throughout the history of mankind. But equal representation is often not feasible without compromise which is exactly what happened in Philadelphia in the year 1787. The representation that was being questioned was how the small and large states could both be represented equally, and it is not shocked that both the small and large states had a plan of how the representation should work. “The one plan was federal, the other national,” (105)
The New Jersey plan was another plan that was presented at the Constitutional Convention. The New Jersey Plan was presented by William Patterson on June 15, 1787. This plan was presented because the small states felt that the large states would control the government and they didn’t want that. One component of the plan was that there would be three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch would be unicameral and only have a one house congress.
The delegates in the smaller states wanted their plan to amend the Articles of Confederation and deter the larger states from controlling the government on a national level (Library of Virginia, n.d.). The New Jersey Plan would serve to make the federal government stronger, and it recommended each state have the right to equal representation. It further stated that the legislature should have two houses with different rules which applied to responsibilities and the amount of time a member could serve for each term (Schultz,
A number of different frameworks were considered but the debate quickly centered around two different plans; New Jersey (aka “Little State”) and Virginia (aka ‘big state”). The major difference between the two plans was in how the “votes” of the 13 states (actually 12 since Rhode Island didn’t attend…) would be counted (based upon population or simple equality of states). In the end Connecticut provide a compromise (aka “Great Compromise”) that took the best of both plans and created a federal republic based on a separation of powers, checks and balances, protection of private property, and the interests of
It was written by William Patterson. The New Jersey plan favored giving control of the federal government to the states, not the people through their representatives. They proposed a unicameral legislature of only one house. This called for equal representation in which each state had the same number of representatives. The New Jersey Plan also called for Separation of Powers consisting of legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
The Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison favored the larger states for a two-house Congress to be based on each state’s population. This, of course, was argued about because small states felt as if they would not have enough voice. In disapproval to the Virginia Plan came the New Jersey Plan. This plan argued for a one house Congress, with equal representation. This meant that each state would have the same number of members.
Under this plan, known as the Great Compromise, the
William Patterson presented this plan on June 15, 1787. They felt this plan was necessary because with the Virginia Plan, the larger states would control the government since they had a greater amount of representatives versus the smaller states, therefore giving them more power. One part of the New Jersey Plan was that there would be three branches of government. The three branches were the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia proposed the “Virginia Plan”, which[Proposed] for a new form of government and called for the number of votes each state received in Congress to be based on population rather than each state receiving one vote” (Kelly Munson). The Virginal Plan also favored a bicameral legislature, which was intended to favor the bigger states because representation in both houses would be based on population. To counter this plan, William Patterson proposed the “New Jersey Plan”. Patterson’s proposal favored “the idea of a unicameral legislature in which all states would have an equal number of votes” (U.S. History). In order to resolve the dispute between the bigger states, majority rule, and the smaller states, minority rights, a compromise was
Constitution vs. Articles of Confederation Comparing the Constitution to the Articles of Confederation is really easy. To start off with the articles didn’t have executive branch, meaning no president. The Constitution has a executive branch, and introduced the legislative and judicial branches. National debt was a big threat after the revolutionary war, during the article period it wasn’t payed well, until the constitution the federal government helped pay the national debt, by passing taxes. The voting process was also introduced in the Constitution, compared to the articles the states vote in secret forms.
“Let our government be like that of the solar system. Let the general government be like the sun and the states the planets, repelled yet attracted, and the whole moving regularly and harmoniously in several orbits.” said John Dickinson, a Delaware Delegate in 1787 (constitutionfacts.com). The United States has a government that, for the most part, flows smoothly. However, our governing documents have not always been so harmonious.
Two different plans, the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan, came into fuse into one and was known as the Great Compromise which helped delegates distribute even representation state to state. The next large issue, and in my opinion the largest was Slavery which was a difficult and as we know lengthy process which eventually was abolished. Southern slave owners wanted slaves to be counted in the population so they could get more representation on larger states, this lead to the Three-Fifths Compromise where slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person when taking poll on the population. This was very important because if slavery was abolished at this point the southern states would of just disbanded from the convention. The last of major compromise was how they were going to decide who would take the chair of president of our country.
Having a weak central government created a whole new set of problems. After analyzing the Articles of Confederation the weaknesses outnumbered the strengths. Such as states not having to obey the laws and ignore taxations because they had no authority to enforce them. Congress did not have the power to collect taxes from the each of the states, that was one major weakness especially during the Revolutionary War because instead of getting the money they had to ask the states for money and the states said no. At that point the government should have put their foot down and enforced a new law, their troops were fighting for their freedom and these people didn’t care.
Congress would work as the court of appeal of last resort in disputes between states. Pinckney also proposed having a supreme Federal Judicial Court. William Paterson proposed the New Jersey Plan, also known as the Small State Plan. The existing Continental Congress would remain, but it would be given new powers, such as the power to charge taxes and force their collection. An executive branch would be elected by Congress.