The Virginia Plan

The first action of the convention was to elect George Washington as chairman. The second action was to vote to conduct all their sessions in private and to allow no news releases or reports of their progress. Madison later explained that the purpose of this decision was to encourage the delegates to vote, as they believed they should, not because of any public commitment they might have made. By having no audience, the delegates might be more willing to change their minds as facts were presented.

The Virginia Plan. The delegate from Virginia, Edmund Randolph, was the first major speaker, and it was his proposal that first led to the decision to draft a new document rather than amend the old one. He outlined the plan that the Virginia delegation

When the vote was finally taken, the convention agreed to establish a government consisting of three separate branches, creating a new framework of government rather than patching up the old Articles. The decision may well be considered the most important vote during the entire convention.

The New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for a Congress of two houses in which the total number of delegates would be divided among the states according to the free population of each state. Congress would have the power to select the executive, and a system of national courts would be established.

Clearly, under the Virginia Plan, the more heavily populated states would control Congress. Of course, the small states were opposed. Delegates from Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey spoke out against the Virginia Plan. William Patterson of New Jersey presented an alternative plan based on the wishes of the small states. The New Jersey Plan called for a one-house legislature in which each state would cast only one vote, as in the Confederation Congress. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, however, the New Jersey Plan would allow Congress to regulate trade and to impose tariffs. It would provide for an executive council and a federal judiciary, but Congress would restrict the powers of

Delegates furiously debated the two plans for two weeks. The heart of the quarrel was whether the central government would be given power to control the states. Under the Virginia Plan, where representation in Congress was based on population, it would have the power. Under the New Jersey Plan, which gave each state equal power regardless of population, it would not. The weather was hot and humid and tempers were short. Washington understood that further debate would not solve the problem. On July 2, he called for a vote on the New Jersey Plan. The result was a tie: five states for, five opposed, Georgia delegates divided, New Hampshire still not there, and Rhode Island absent.

The "Great Compromise." At this crucial moment, the Convention agreed to submit the problem to a compromise committee of one delegate from each of the eleven participating states. The convention then adjourned for a few days while the committee worked on the problem.

When the convention reassembled, the compromise committee was ready to report. It suggested the creation of a two-house legislature composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate. To satisfy those who supported the Virginia Plan, members of the House were to be allotted to the states based on population. The House members were to vote individually, not as part of a state