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Summarize Plans from the Constitutional Convention

Muyang Hu
Professor Butler
Political Science 1
10 September 2015

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Summarize Plans from the Constitutional Convention

1. As the Articles of Confederation couldnt really maintain the country on its feet
successfully because taxes cant be successfully collected to pay off the debt from
the war with Great Britain. Another fact was that in order for something to pass
nine out of 13 states has to agree. Therefore making the ten years we had the
Article of Confederation a useless paper that plummeted our economy. So
therefore a meeting was called upon to fix the problem. During the meeting 4
different plans Was The New York Plan, The Virginia Plan, The New Jersey plan
and The Great Compromise. During the meeting the most favored plan was the
Virginia Plan created by the Edmund Randolph " Written primarily by fellow
Virginian the plan traced the broad outlines of what would become the U.S.
Constitution.1 This includes the judicial branch as the main power in federal
impeachment and has a say in court cases. There is a separate judiciary and
interpreter of laws in this plan. While this plan was created to benefit the largely
populated states. Populations in states are used for dividing seats for
representatives among the states. Therefore smaller states with smaller population
wont get their voice heard. The plan It describes 2 houses: one with members
elected by the people for 3-year terms and the other composed of older leaders
elected by the state legislatures for 7-year terms.2 Therefore the legislative
1 "(print-friendly Version)." (print-friendly Version). Accessed September 8, 2015.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?
flash=true&page=&doc=7&title=Virginia Plan (1787).
2"Founders Online: The Virginia Plan, 29 May 1787." The Virginia Plan, 29 May 1787.
Accessed September 13, 2015. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-10-

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branch will be most powerful as the legislative branch gets to monitor trade,
declare laws unconstitutional, collect taxes from the citizens. While the Executive
branch will only be selected by the legislatures and could be removed. Because
what happened with the Parliament and the war the delegates tries to have a less
powerful executive branch to ensure it wont be overpowered. Therefore the
national government will have majority of power than those in the Articles of
Confederation for a control over the states.
2. To counter the Unfairness of the plan Madison and Edmund created that benefits
greatly on the populated states The smaller states had to come up with a plan to
have a equal representation for each states for the two houses. This plan was
quite similar to the Virginia plan and is proposed by William Patterson. Its not
based off the power upon the population of each state.3 With this plan the
Congress would be able to control the states equally through the unicameral one
vote per state. The executive will be elected by the legislature, while not having
the power to veto legislations. For population reasons during the time slaves
counted as 3/5th of a person. Further more the Executive branch has a higher
power compared to what the Virginia plan bought forth. A main distinction
between the two is that the executive could appoint the judiciary and the
executive will have a lot more power. For the main powerhouse in this plan, the
judicial branch has the power to impeach anyone and has a separate judiciary and

02-0005.
3 "New Jersey Plan." New Jersey Plan. Accessed September 13, 2015. http://www.u-shistory.com/pages/h369.html.

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interpreter for law.4 Ultimately this Plan keeps the states sovereignty over the
more populated states.
3. In order to solve the biggest issues like population the federal government being
too overwhelming in the two previous plans, Roger Sherman was the one who
proposed the idea of the Connecticut plan. Which is also known as the
Compromise plan. Sherman was able to take the better of the two plans and put it
into a plan that both sides could accept. Through this plan the legislature would
have two different houses favoring both sides. One of the lower house is based on
the states population, while the upper house (is going to be where the
representation would be proportionate even for smaller states. 5 While the idea of
African American slaves would still count as 3/5th of a person. This was due to the
fact a lot people were very racist and didnt want to counter the issue of slavery.
While the house had the power to go through the laws and the
controlling the financial aspects of the nation. The judicial
branch like today will be able to review cases and pass certain
laws. Lastly the executive branch would be the representation of
the nation and make proper accommodations if other branches
of government agree. Initially this was the first step towards our
constitution. It created the Checks and Balance among the other
branches. Ultimately it would prevent one branch of the
4 "TheNewJerseyPlanTheU.S.ConstitutionOnlineUSConstitution.net."TheNew
JerseyPlanTheU.S.ConstitutionOnlineUSConstitution.net.AccessedSeptember10,
2015.http://www.usconstitution.net/plan_nj.html.
5 Longley, Robert. "The Great Compromise of 1787." About News. Accessed September
10, 2015. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/greatcomp.htm.

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government getting too much power like a monarchy.

While this

plan also included a separate judiciary and interpreter of laws. By

combining the Virginia plan and the New Jersey plan our founding
fathers helped us start upon the road to a successful
government, which we know throughout the world as the
amazing American government we have today.

Bibliography
1. "(print-friendly Version)." (print-friendly Version). Accessed September 8, 2015.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?
flash=true&page=&doc=7&title=Virginia Plan (1787).
6 5. Kelly, Martin. "Great Compromise of the Constitution." About Education. Accessed
September 10, 2015.
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/f/greatcompromise.htm.

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2."Founders Online: The Virginia Plan, 29 May 1787." The Virginia Plan, 29 May 1787.
Accessed September 13, 2015. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-1002-0005.
3. "New Jersey Plan." New Jersey Plan. Accessed September 13, 2015. http://www.u-shistory.com/pages/h369.html.
4. Longley, Robert. "The Great Compromise of 1787." About News. Accessed September
10, 2015. http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/greatcomp.htm.
5. Kelly, Martin. "Great Compromise of the Constitution." About Education. Accessed
September 10, 2015.
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/f/greatcompromise.htm.
6. "Virginia Plan." Virginia Plan. March 23, 2001. Accessed September 10, 2015.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-virginia-plan-description-facts-quiz.html.
7. "The New Jersey Plan - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." The New
Jersey Plan - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net. Accessed September 10,
2015. http://www.usconstitution.net/plan_nj.html.