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Constitutional conventions essay introduction
Constitutional conventions essay introduction
Constitutional conventions essay introduction
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The Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan had many similarities and distinct differences. The New Jersey Plan wanted the Legislative Branch to consist of one house with equal representation from all states. It also stated that the Legislative Branch could collect taxes from the states. The Virginia Plan included details about a powerful Legislative Branch. There would be two houses with membership proportional to the state’s population.
As the Constitutional Congress were creating America’s new government from scratch, a problem came into their hands. They couldn’t decide whether to have equal representation or representation proportional (corresponding in size) to each state's’ population. Each of them either favored smaller or bigger states. Such as the Virginia Plan, this plan favored big states because it stated that the bigger the population, the more representatives they get. On the other hand, the New Jersey plan favored smaller states because it stated that no matter how big or small the population is, they get an equal amount of representatives.
This despised action caused a turning point in government at the time because of Shay’s rebellion. Thanks to Daniel Shays, whom was one of many fed up with the weak articles, they finally came to an end during the constitutional convention which was composed of representatives from each state except Rhode Island. The convention, for the most part, was all for giving the power back to the national government so the issues of taxation and foreign commerce could be better handled. This newfound power the government was about to have was going to be based off the newly written fundamental laws called the constitution. First, the convention had to decipher between two ideas about representation, the Virginia Plan or the New Jersey plan.
In the creating of the US Constitution, the creators hit many roadblocks. It was difficult for the state delegates to decide on much, especially because they were biased and in favor of their own states. The New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan were two examples of the disagreement of representation within the states in the legislative branch. The New Jersey Plan was in favor of equal representation throughout the states. The Virginia Plan was in favor of population representation, meaning the larger states would have more representation than the smaller states.
constitution and it failed. Shay’s Rebellion showed the weaknesses of this document, which resulted in the revision at the constitutional convention. Representation between large states and smaller states and slavery were heavily discussed in this convention. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, two documents called the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan were proposed for representation, and a compromise was made. The new U.S. Constitution declares that states would be equally represented in the upper house of Congress.
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.
At the Constitutional Convention, our founding fathers met to reconstruct the Articles of Confederation, not knowing that they would create the United States Constitution, an entire new format of government. They wanted to create a government that was powerful yet restricted in certain ways, in order to create equal representation for all people. Three main compromises were made at the Constitutional Convention. These compromises were The Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.
Moreover, under the Articles each state only has between two or seven delegates in congress, while in the Constitution each has two members in the Senate and one Representative per 300 thousand people. since states with bigger populations wanted representation to be solely based on population and states with smaller populations wanted there to be a fixed number of representatives per state, regardless of size or population, The Connecticut Compromise resolved this issue by forming the two houses
This led to the structure of the government: the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey
His New Jersey Plan was a counter proposal to the Virginia Plan. Less populated states strongly contradict giving power of national government control to states that are highly populated, which resulted to a legislative body from the Articles of Confederation to represent one-vote-per state. With a legislative representative there would be more authority. The single legislative chamber of the New Jersey Plan, was originated from the Article of Confederation. The issue of the size of the state and state’s fairness idle the
The plan proposed by Virginia otherwise known as the “large-state plan.” Which proposed “a bicameral legislature, in which the lower house would be elected proportionately and the upper house would be selected from a list of nominees sent from the state legislatures on the basis of equal representation for the states. ”(add footnote) As the smaller states feared that this plan would lose a voice in the federal government if they continued with the Virginia plan, they opposed this plan and came up with one for themselves which would be known as the “small-state plan.” The small-state plan would propose “a unicameral Congress, with equal representation for each state, with all the powers of the Confederation Congress.
The Constitutional Convention was arranged for the “purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation” (208). As a result, it was concluded that the power of this great nation should fall in the hands of a “direct authority” rather than within each state (209). Additionally, the national government must provide the Constitution as the representation of the people’s voice and their rights. Consequently, the New Jersey plan became in effect in which equal representation amongst the states in a “unicameral (one-house)” (210).
On the other hand, there was much controversy as to how the upper house, the Senate, should be numbered. Many different delegates brought forth plans and ideas, which were debated and time and again rejected. On July 5, 1787 Conneticut delegates Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth presented the “Connecticut Compromise” which took parts from previously offered plans. The plan, which would later be commonly referred to as the “Great Compromise”, conceded to the House of Representatives being structured as noted above, and the Senate being comprised of two delegates per state, regardless of size (1787: A Great Compromise, n.d.). As it was already the idea of the Framers that the Senate be the higher house, with more tenured delegates not so easily influenced by their constituents, and therefore acting more in the interest of the nation, it was argued that all states have equal say in the Senate.
198). This was known as the New Jersey Plan. In the text, Experience History, it states that this plan raised Congress’s power to tax and regulate trade, and kept national government a unicameral. Though it did not take long before the delegates rejected Paterson’s plan and going back to Madison’s plan. The problem with this plan was the idea of the seats being proportional to the states because some states were bigger than others (Davidson, et al., 2013, p. 198).
Obviously, smaller states were not pleased with that plan. They thought that larger states could easily overrule them in congress. So William Paterson created a plan called the New Jersey Plan. It as well had the same three branches but, the plan provided legislators to have only one house. Each state would only one vote in the legislator, regardless of the population.
