Under the Articles of Confederation, each of the thirteen colonies was represented in Congress with one vote. When the framers created the Constitution, there were discussions surrounding whether each state should have votes proportional to the state’s population or should each state have equal representation. The larger states favored the Virginia Plan (which was based on population) because this would give them greater control in Congress. The smaller states were concerned about losing power in Congress so they supported the New Jersey Plan (which gave each state equal representation). After much debate over the two plans, a compromise was adopted that created a bicameral Congress. Under this plan, known as the Great Compromise, the
During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates came up two plans. One plan is called the Virginia Plan drafted by James Madison that the number of representatives are depend on the population of the state. Another Plan is called the New Jersey plan presented by William Paterson that every state should have two representatives. At last, they ended up with a new plan called the Hamilton Plan which was unsatisfied with the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand.”
The authors of the Constitution created a balance between federal and state government by creating federalism or a division of powers with checks and balances while maintaining the separation of powers. That being said, the Virginia Plan of having every state hold a two-house legislature was debated against the New Jersey Plan that entailed a single house Congress (Foner, 2014). The end result was a two-house Congress in which each state could then have two senate members that are required to serve for one term of six years and a House of Representatives in which member were elected directly by the people every two years. This system made sure that each population was represented equally despite one state being larger than the other (Foner,
Most delegates from the Constitutional Convention belonged to diverse backgrounds that undoubtedly translated into their opposing political views. The states, represented by these distinct delegates, came with their own sets of differing beliefs. Various views presented multiple issues for the Constitutional Convention. These opposing approaches were visibly evident through the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. The larger states favored the Virginia Plan with each state represented based on population, while the smaller states favored the New Jersey Plan whose ideals pushed for equal representation amongst all the states.
I am Jonathan Dayton, hailing from New Jersey, and I am a Federalist. I am here today at the Constitutional Convention to discuss the pros and cons of the our nation’s governing documents. I will be speaking in favor of a constitution rather than articles of confederation. Speaking as a Federalist, I see some flaws in the Articles of the Confederation. One feature of the Articles of Confederation is that the power of voting would be in the hands of the people.
Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist on Taxation Although the Articles of Confederation had its flaws, not everyone agreed with the Constitution. Under the Articles, the federal government had no taxing authority. This posed a major problem. After the War for Independence, the new country had various forms of debt.
Alexander Hamiltion had wrote The Federalist 21 to express the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. The Federalist 21 talks about many weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. The specific weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation according to The Federalsit 21 included the following, the first weakness is the inability of the government to enforce its legistation. The government could pass laws but could not force the laws on the states. States could choice to disregard the laws without conquences from the government.
Before all this, “The congresses only consisted of one chamber with a certain number of representatives from every states” (Drinan). Congress went from unicameral to bicameral which divided up the congress. The question was about the states having a certain number of representatives. Larger states and states with a higher population supported the Virginia Plan, which was based on the population. The higher population, the more representatives they could have.
The articles of confederation were not truly democratic because of the leadership and the voting policy. The central authority of a confederation is usually a weak body appointed by the member states who usually will focus on joint foreign policy and defense matters, but rarely will have the power to do much more than that.. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States was a Confederacy. The whole Government of the United States was vested in one body, The Congress Assembled, no official, no legal. The capacity of law authorization and judging law went by Congress was left to the States.
On March 1, 1781 The Articles of Confederation were adopted at the Capital of York, Pennsylvania (“Article of Confederation Adopted”). These articles led up to a big part of history. They led up to the Constitution to become a part of our state in government. The committee of 13 men was the ones who had decided to adopt all of the articles.
The House of Representatives had representatives from each state based on that state’s population. The Senate has equal amount of representatives from each state. This made it fair for all states in decisions. In our unit 5.3 packet, it explains how under the New Jersey Plan there would be one house, with equal amounts of representatives from each state not making it fair for bigger states. It also describes the Virginia Plan, and how there were 2 houses, both based on states population, not making it fair for smaller states.
The Untied States put the Articles of Confederation into place on March 1st, 1781, during the Revolutionary War. It was the first form of national government in the U.S. The Articles gave the majority of power to the individual states and limited power to the national government, this power structure was chosen due to the British excessive control on the colonies. Soon it became apparent that the Articles of Confederation was not sufficient means of governing the populace. Therefore in May of 1787, delegates from the thirteen states arrived in Philadelphia to improve the Articles and prevent the country from collapsing.
The Virgina Plan wanted state representation based on population, while the New Jersey Plan wanted the states to have equal representation. This was resolved by the Great Compromise that created the House of Representatives (based on population) and the Senate (equal representation). The Constitution was created due to the weakness of government caused by the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists wanted the new Constitution and a stronger government. The Anti-Federlaists opposed the new constitution and didn’t want a strong central government.
After deciding to write a new constitution, the delegates could not decide what new form the government should take. One of the options was the Virginia Plan created by Edmund Randolph and James Madison. The plan included a strong government with three branches (the legislative branch, The judicial branch, and the executive branch). In the Virginia Plan, the legislator would consist of two houses and seats would be awarded on the basis of the population. Due to the fact that the seats are awarded based on population, larger states would have more representatives than smaller states.
Articles of Confederation vs. U.S. Constitution The Articles of the Confederation and the U.S. Constitution are two articles that where written and accepted by the United States as a foundation for their new government. They are both very important documents that have similarities and differences. Some of the main things the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution have in common is that they addressed the needs of its constituencies.
The Articles of the Confederation was the first government constitution that the United States used, and, although there were strength like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, there were major weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation like the following: requiring 9 out of the 13 colonial votes from the representatives from different states to pass a law; having no executive and judicial branch; and the federal government being unable to impose tax revenue onto the states. Such flaws would eventually lead to the Constitution and the repeal of the articles, for the Constitution was a measure to fix the problems of the articles with a stronger government that allowed them to impose taxes and and implement new laws for a more effective government.