The New Jersey Plan

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The New Jersey Plan was proposed during the Constitutional Convention in 1787, where the delegates from each state were creating their new government. One of the plans that were proposed at the Conventional Convention was the Virginia Plan. This plan was written by James Madison who grew up on a wealthy plantation in Virginia. The plan said that the government should be split into three branches to keep equal power throughout the government. Though it did say seem flawless, there was one factor that displeased the smaller state. It said that the government should use the proportional representation, which is when voting would be based off of how many delegates there were. This was a problem for smaller states because then those states would not have as much of the vote as the larger states. In response to the Virginia Plan, William Patterson created the New Jersey Plan (sometimes called the Patterson Plan) in order to give an even amount of vote throughout the colonies. It was also based on the Articles of Confederation, or “it was a proposal to ‘revise’ the Articles of Confederation”. This was the original constitution for the government that was supposed to follow after the Revolutionary War. The document generally stated that the Congress should be able to create taxes. The Congress should also be allowed to “regulate and interstate commerce”. The executive and judicial branch would be created under the New Jersey Plan. The executive branch was able to choose the members of the judicial branch, who then would serve for life. The New Jersey Plan also stated that there should be equal vote throughout the states, or each state should have the same amount of the vote as all the other states. The document also stated that ... ... middle of paper ... ...stem, then the larger states would have easily gotten more power than the smaller states, which could have been led to total chaos. Without the New Jersey Plan, the government or the nation wouldn’t be as strong as it is now. The New Jersey Plan helped cause tension during the Constitutional Convention, and because of that, it made a stronger nation. Works Cited Cayton, Andrew R. L., Elisabeth Israels. Perry, Linda Reed, and Allan M. Winkler. "The New Jersey Plan." Prentice Hall America: Pathways to the Present. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 152-53. Print. Commager, Henry Steele. "New Jersey Plan." Documents of American History. Vol. Vo. 1. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968. 136-37. Print. Sabato, Larry, and Howard R. Ernst. "New Jersey Plan." Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. New York: Facts On File, 2006. N. pag. Print.

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