What Is The Difference Between The Virginia Plan And The Great Compromise

456 Words2 Pages

Cheyenne Higbie
Kelli Brown
Social Studies 3rd hour
03 October 2016
The United States Constitution When the Founding Fathers of the United States realized that The Articles of Confederation was weak, they soon decided to form a new Constitution. Several different ideas were proposed by people from different states. These plans were then evaluated by the committee and voted on. One of the biggest debates throughout the process of revising the Articles of Confederation was representation in the Senate for all of these states. The Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan and the Great Compromise were three examples of the different ideas, proposed by the people, for the Constitution.
The Virginia Plan
James Madison originally wrote the Virginia Plan but Edmund Randolph was the one to propose it. This plan required a two-house legislature and its representation was proportional, or corresponding in size of population. This plan also required a court system. A chief executive was elected by the legislature. The Upper House members were elected by the Lower House members. The members of The Lower House were chosen by the people. Congress could collect taxes from states. Because of …show more content…

It was introduced by Roger Sherman from Connecticut. The number of seats for representation would vary according to each state’s population.The states of the South wanted to count enslaved people as part of their population in order to gain delegates. The Committee eventually came to an agreement that each slave would be counted as 3/5ths of a free person for both representation and taxation. This agreement was called the Three-Fifths Compromise. In the end the Great Compromise was like the merging together of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan. According to The American Journey, “When 9 of the 13 states had approved, the new government of the United States would come into

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