Jessica Prudencio

Political Science 1
Professor Hamman
January 25, 2015
Major Plans
The Virginia Plan also known as the Randolph Plan was created by James Madison and
presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. This manifesto
offered a new form of government in which each states vote would be based on population.
Therefore, states like Massachusetts and Virginia would have more representatives than smaller
states. Moreover, the Virginia Plan proposed for a bicameral legislative branch in which the
legislative branch would be divided into two chambers (House of Representatives, and Senate).
It also stated that the national government would be separated into three branches (Legislative,
Executive, and Judiciary). This giving congress the right to receive power to tax and spend,
approve treaties, regulate interstate and foreign commerce, conduct foreign affairs, raise an army
and navy, coin money, and declare war ( Brannen, Hanes, & Valentine, 990). Though the
Legislative branch would choose the executive, they had the power to enforce laws in which both
the legislative wrote and explained by the judicial branch. Furthermore The Virginia Plan would
allow the states with the majority of the population to govern people through a federal system.
Since many small states opposed the Virginia Plan William Paterson introduced the New
Jersey Plan in 1787 on June 15. This document proposed that instead of the U.S being governed
by a bicameral body it should be governed by a unicameral congress in which the number of
representatives would be equal. This plan was mainly intended to benefit the smaller states
rather than the larger states. Through the New Jersey Plan congress would have the sole power to

collect taxes in all states, and the power to elect the executive whom would only be elected once.
His proposal was similar to what the laws of the Articles of Confederation stated in which some
of his ideas were again represented in the Judiciary Act of 1789. In other words with the New
Jersey Plan both the national and the state government would have power though there wouldnt
be any control between the majority and minority vote.
Furthermore, since both the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan didnt sought to
perform what was right for the U.S, both Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth proposed the
Connecticut Compromise. It is called The Great Compromise because it includes some of the
ideas that were included the both the Virginia and New Jersey Plan. With this plan Congress
became a bicameral body. This meant that the senate would have equality in representatives
among all states and the House of Representatives would depend on population. This benefited
both the larger and smaller states because they would both be equally represented. This plan also
adopted Randolphs idea of the three branches of legislative, executive, and judiciary. This gave
both the state and the national government some shared powers such as collecting taxes, and
making and enforcing laws.

Works Cited
Batten, Donna, ed. Origins of U.S. Government: The New Jersey, or Paterson, Plan. 3rd ed. Vol.
13. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Accessed January 23, 2015. doi:GALE|CX1337704835.
Brannen, Daniel E., Jr., Richard C. Hanes, and Rebecca Valentine. "Federal Powers and
Seperation of Powers." In Supreme Court: Cases That Changed America, edited by
Lawrence W. Baker, 987-94. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: UXL: Business and Government
Law, 2011.
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Coulter, Michael. "Judiciary Act of 1789." In Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United
States, edited by David S. Tanenhaus, 74-77. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA,
2008.
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"Origins of U.S Government: The Virginia, or Randolph Plan." In Gale Encyclopedia of
American Law, edited by Donna Batten, 107-09. 3rd ed. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 2011.
GALE|CX1337704834
Robertson, Brian D. "Great Compromise." In Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United
States, edited by David S. Tanenhaus, 359. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA,
2008.
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