Plan Transcript For Free

Introduced to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison's Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The plan called for a legislature divided into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with proportional representation.

On 19 June the Convention rejected the New Jersey Plan and the Hamilton Plan and continued to debate the Virginia Plan for the remainder of the Convention.

The Great Compromise combined elements of both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan by including two legislative bodies, or a bicameral government, one with proportional representation and the other with equal representation. The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788.

?Great Compromise? Saves the Convention Finally, delegates made a ?great compromise,? to create a bicameral (two-house) legislature with the states having equal representation in the upper house or senate and the people having proportional representation in the lower house, where all money bills were to originate.

The Virginia Plan favored the interests of states with large populations, and the New Jersey Plan was proposed in response to protect small state interests.

During the summer of 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia established equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.

5 Issues at the Constitutional Convention. When the 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, there were several major issues on the agenda to discuss including representation, state versus federal powers, executive power, slavery, and commerce.