For five years after Revolutionary war each state basically governed themselves. Although there was national government in place, it held little power over the states. It soon became apparent that the Articles of Confederation needed to be readdressed to combat the increasing problems that were brewing in the country. The first attempt to redress was dismissed by many of the states. Nevertheless, a second attempt produced results with twelve of the states sending delegates to redress the Articles of Confederation. Several delegates submitted plans for consideration that would strengthen the national government two such plans were the Virginia and the New Jersey Plan. Despite much of Virginia’s plan being accepted, if a compromise had not been reached the New Jerseys plan would have been more workable because it offered: equal representation of the states, provided operational means to congress, and was not a radical departure from the Articles of the Confederation. To begin with the unequal representation of the states in the Virginia Plan was of great concern and controversy while the New Jersey Plan retained equal representation of the states. Virginia proposed a bicameral legislature that included elections by the people and appointments by those elected. This system used both wealth and population as a determining factor in regards to the number of seats in both houses. New Jersey on the other hand proposed single house legislature that allow each state a single vote. Votes based on population would put small states at a disadvantage. The states that were more populated would be in control of the legislative branches, leaving small states without a voice. Concerns about who was to be counted in the population also ... ... middle of paper ... ...lan workable would take agreement from the states and revenue. To get agreement from the states they would need assurance that they would have an equal voice and not be subjected to monarchy rule. In spite of the fact that most of the Virginia plan was accepted the New Jersey plan would have been more workable if a compromise had not been reached. The New Jersey Plan ensured equal representation of the states, along with way to finance the proposed government and security against monarchy rule. Furthermore it amended the Articles of Confederation rather than writing a new constitution. Considering all this coupled with the states fears of a centralized government makes the New Jersey plan more workable than the Virginia plan. Works Cited Sidney M. Milkis, Michael Nelson. The American Presidency Origins & Development, 1776-2011. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2008.
Synopsis: The purpose of the Albany Plan of Union was to create a centralized government for the colonies. The Plan also promoted for the colonies to unite as one due to the French and Indian war. The new government would be controlled by a President-General which was chosen and supported by the king. Also, the representatives of the colonies would have to choose a Grand Council in order to assist the appointed President-General. In the Grand council, each colony would have a number of representatives based on the population of the colony. The government would have the power to commerce activities, national defense, also a defense and negotiate relations with the Natives. Also, the Grand Council member would change every three years and that they will meet once a year or occasionally if needed. The Albany plan was approved on July 10, 1754, by the Albany Congress. Copies of the Albany plan sent to the colonies and the British
At the time, larger states like Virginia were creating an unfair amount of power for themselves that the small states didn’t have. In the new government, Congress was created to make laws, and was made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives would give states a number of Representatives they could have based on their population. This would give fair power deserved to the larger states. The Senate however would be two and only two Senators for each state, no matter how large or small, bringing some equality to Congress.
The Virginia Plan, introduced by James Madison, suggested for the need of representation based upon a states population, including a states African American slavery population. Thus, it was deemed the Large State plan, since it obviously favored states with heavy population. Tindall and Shi explore this, but leave many questions unansw...
...However the large states were not satisfied with their plan either, so a third plan was made, The Great Compromise. In other words the Connecticut Compromise (The Great Compromise) happened, it mixed the ideas of the two and was passed by a one-vote margin. The plan consists of proportional representation in The House of Representatives and equal representation in The Senate, as well as adding separation of powers to the mix. It was highly important and crucial to the success of the new constitution.
neither posed a solution to the fears of all the delegates consequently the Virginia Plan
Following the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress realized it was necessary to set up a government. The Articles of Confederation in 1781 served as the document that established the fundamentals of the national government in the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. Although, this document said nothing about slavery. It left the most powers including slavery, to the individual states. After their experience with the British, the colonists distrusted a strong central government. The new government consisted of a Congress in which each state had one vote. With little to no power to execute its laws or collect taxes, the new government proved ineffective. In May of 1787, delegates from 12 states came together, their goal being to revise the Articles of Confederation. Always constantly meeting, they changed their goal and decided that they would write a new Constitution, making three branches of government. An argument over the legislative branch arose. States with large populations wanted representation in both houses of the legislature to be based on population. States with small populations wanted each state to have the same number
The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison and was proposed at the 1787 Constitutional Convention where they talked about completely rewriting a new version of the Articles of Confederation. One of the ideas that was brought forth that we still use today is that the three branches of government be separated and a national government that makes the laws for citizens and states. Secondly, we see that the congress would be divided into a lower and upper house; whereas the lower house is chosen by the citizens and the upper house is chosen by the senators. Then lastly, we see that the Constitution established specifically a chief of justice and allowing congress to decided however many justices. There were many debates and proposals brought forth to try and appease everyone; however, the separation of branches, the division of the houses, and declaring a single chief justice were three factors that we see strongly in our government today. Although, the original Virginia Plan isn’t exactly what was passed it has still shown great success in our country
During the 1700’s, one of the most discussed topics, was the kind of government that should be incorporated into each state. Several men with skeptical beliefs and contradicting ideas, led to many (indirect) disputes about which route should be taken. Virginia and Pennsylvania’s constitutions were a hot topic during the era, they stimulated an intriguing matter amongst many politicians. From Thomas Paine to Carter Braxton’s writings, each individual had an important role arguing and making claims toward the type of government they found to be the most effective. Virginia’s constitution was considered to be a mixed government, while Pennsylvania’s constitution was a simple government. Each structure had men who praised it and men who critiqued it. Through their writings we find many pros and cons for each style of governing, as well as the different theories each individual had when it came to structuring a state’s constitution. We also gain an insight of what possible concerns came about during the time and what solutions they offered, if any were offered at all.
The Great Compromise, was one of the most well know compromise made at the Constitutional Convention. When deciding how states should be represented in the new Constitution two plans were presented, The Virginia Plan and The New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan proposed a
Three of these compromises were the Virginia plan, the New Jersey plan, and the Great Compromise. Edmund Randolf and James Madison led the Virginia plan. The Virginia plan called for a strong central government with three branches. These branches were the legislative branch that passed laws, the executive branch that carried them out, and the judicial branch that made sure they were carried out fairly. They also proposed that the legislative branch would consist of two
The national government's inability to resist foreign governments convinced many leaders within the thirteen colonies of the need for a new constitution with a stronger national government. Shortly after the convention began in September 1787 delegates elected George Washington to lead the convention and agreed that the meetings would not be made public. The decision for privacy allowed for the consideration of an entirely new constitution, as open consideration of a new constitution would likely have been met with great public outcry. As the convention continued and ideas were being discussed, Virginia's delegates introduced a set of reforms known as the Virginia plan. The Virginia plan proposal wanted a bicameral legislative branch which
The smaller states wanted to have the same number of representatives as large states. Larger states however, wanted to have more power considering their states contained more land and population. The fathers of the constitution decided to combine the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. This is known as a bicameral legislature. The senate has two representatives no matter the size of the state, and the House of Representatives is determined by its population. The constitutional leaders then had to think of how to count slaves. Remaining states with slaves wanted to count them as whole people. The two sides came to an agreement of counting three-fifths of the slave population. The United States however, no longer has slaves but this is the government that we live in
Edmund Randolph of Virginia was the first to offer a suggestion, known as the “Virginia Plan”, that addressed representation. His plan provided for a system of representation based on the population of each state or the proportion of each state’s revenue contribution, or both. This did not fly with the smaller states like New Jersey, Delaware, or Connecticut. The smaller states saw this idea as a bias towards the larger states, with the potential for domination of the legislature in a new government. This was primarily seen as a battle between the smaller merchant states versus the larger, slave owning states. In fact, this issue threatened the entire constitutional process if a reasonable compromise could not be achieved. The “Great Compromise” (also called the Connecticut Compromise), set to establish two chambers of the Congress, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, with the House being apportioned by he number of people in that state, while the Senate would contain equal representation from all states, regardless of the size or number of people from that state. This idea is also referred to as a bicameral legislature, meaning two chambers.
Hargrove, Erwin C. The Power of the Modern Presidency. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1974. Questia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
The first proposals to this new plan were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a separation of powers among the government’s three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Some states proposed this idea and came up with the New Jersey Plan, which called for all of the states to have equal representation from Congress. In order to move forward from the deadlock of the two proposals, the Connecticut Compromise was enacted. This decided that legislature would be bicameral, which meant that there would be two houses: one would have equal representation and one would be based on state population. This unified the states under a federal system. To this day, there are three types of Fe...