The New Jersey Plan in Congress

The New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey plan called for each state to have one vote in Congress instead of the number of votes being based on population. It was one of the proposals presented at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Details of the Plan

The plan called for each state to get only one vote, instead of the number of votes based off of the population. This proposed system was intended to protect the interests of smaller states who feared being overshadowed by the larger ones.

Outcome

This plan, however, was not used in the final version of the Constitution. It was ultimately rejected because it didn't seem fair to give equal power to states with vastly different populations. Some states had more population than others, so giving them all the same vote didn't make sense in terms of representation.

Conclusion

In the end, a compromise was reached with the creation of a bicameral legislature where one house (the Senate) gave each state equal representation regardless of population, while the other house (the House of Representatives) based representation on population. This compromise became known as the Great Compromise and helped to establish the foundation of the United States government as we know it today.

Why was the New Jersey plan ultimately rejected?

The New Jersey plan was rejected because it proposed giving each state equal representation regardless of population, which was seen as unfair to states with larger populations.

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