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George Washington's Contributions To The Articles Of Confederation

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to make the Articles of Confederation work. George Washington didn’t like this idea of revising the Articles at first, but the news of the rebellion made him change his mind. After he agreed to attend the convention, it took on greater significance. The meeting took place in Philadelphia in May 1787, with fifty-five delegates that had occupation such as planters, merchants, lawyers, physicians, generals, governors, and a college president. Taking Thomas Jefferson’s place from Virginia were Edmund Randolph and James Madison. Both were keen supporters of a strong national government. Edumund had served in the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. James Madison’s careful notes are the major source of information about the Convention’s …show more content…

However, a delegate named Edmund Randolph proposed that the delegates create an entirely new, strong national government instead of editing the Articles. He introduced the Virginia Plan, which was largely the work of James Madison. This plan was a two-house legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a court system. The members of the lower house of the legislature would be elected by the people and the members of the upper house would be chosen by the lower house. In both houses, the number of representatives would be proportional to the population of each state. For an example, this would give Virginia much more delegates than Delaware, the smallest state. Delegates from small states objected to the plan, instead they preferred the Confederation system in which all states were represented equally. On June 15, William Paterson, a delegate from New Jersey, presented a different plan called the New Jersey Plan that revised the Articles of Confederation, which was all the convention was empowered to do. The Plan kept the Confederation’s one-house legislature, with one vote for each state. Congress could set taxes and regulate trade, powers they did not have under the Articles. Congress would elect a weak executive branch consisting of more than one person. Paterson argued that the Convention should not deprive the smaller states of the equality they had under the Articles of

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