The Virginia Plan vs The New Jersey Plan
The Virginia Plan: The Virginia Plan was presented by James Madison during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. It proposed a bicameral legislature with representation based on population. This means that the larger states would have more representatives in Congress compared to the smaller states. The plan also called for a strong central government with the power to make and enforce laws.
The New Jersey Plan: The New Jersey Plan was an alternative proposal to the Virginia Plan, presented by William Paterson. It suggested a unicameral legislature where each state would have an equal vote. This means that regardless of their size, each state would have the same number of representatives in Congress. The plan also aimed to preserve the sovereignty of the states in the new government.
During the discussions on these two plans, supporters of the New Jersey Plan objected to the idea that the larger states should have more representatives in Congress. They argued that this would give an unfair advantage to the larger states and diminish the influence of the smaller states in the legislative process. The supporters of the New Jersey Plan believed that each state, regardless of its size, should have an equal say in the new government.
In response to this objection, the compromise known as the Great Compromise was reached. This compromise combined elements of both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, creating a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate with equal representation for each state.
This compromise laid the foundation for the structure of the United States Congress as we know it today, with a balance between the representation of larger and smaller states in the legislative process.
The larger states should have more representatives in Congress.
The objection to this point in the Virginia Plan was raised by supporters of the New Jersey Plan, who believed that each state should have equal representation in Congress regardless of its size. This disagreement led to the Great Compromise, which established a bicameral legislature with a balance between representation based on population and equal representation for each state in the United States Congress.