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Virginia Plan Vs New Jersey Plan

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In the year 1787, in the United States, the constitutional convention meet to solve the problems from the original constitution, the articles of confederation. There goal was to either write a new constitution, or amend the original constitution with a stronger central government. When the convention first started, the representatives from Virginia took a leading role and proposed the first plan, known as the Virginia Plan. With this plan, it was proposed that the articles of confederation be completely replaced with a new constitution. Many states opposed this plan and the representatives from New Jersey proposed a new plan, known as the New Jersey Plan. This plan proposed that the article of confederation was amended, instead of completely rewritten. Both of these plans had opposition and it was clear that some compromises needed to be made on both sides. On May 25th, 1987, the first official day of the Constitutional Convention, Edmund Randolph, one of the representatives from Virginia, proposed a new constitution in the Virginia Plan. This plan wanted to strengthen the national government with three branches, the bicameral legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. The Virginia Plan also wanted to get rid of the one-state/ one-vote system, and have them number of …show more content…

This plan proposed that there would be a unicameral legislature, which would give each state one vote, just like the articles of confederation had. There would also be an executive branch with more than one officer that held little power, instead of just one president, and a supreme court. Since this plan kept the one-state/ one-vote system, it was strongly supported by small state. This plan also had opposition, and it was clear that a compromise needed to be made between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey

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