Virginia Plan

Virginia Plan

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A proposal by Virginia delegates during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Virginia Plan (also known as the Large State Plan) was notable for its role in setting the overall agenda for debate in the convention and, in particular, for setting forth the idea of population-weighted representation in the proposed National Legislature.

The Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia to revise and enlarge the Articles of Confederation, which had produced a weak and inadequate national government. The Virginia delegation took the initiative to frame the debate by immediately drawing up and presenting a proposal, for which delegate James Madison is given chief credit.[1] It was, however, Edmund Randolph, another Virginia delegate, who officially put it before the convention on May 29, 1787, in the form of 15 resolutions[2].

The scope of the resolutions, by going well beyond tinkering with the Articles of Confederation, succeeded in broadening the debate to encompass fundamental revisions to the structure and powers of the national government. The resolutions proposed, for example, a new form of national government having three brancheslegislative, executive and judicial.

This plan set the Convention's initial agenda. After Randolph introduced it and the Convention discussed it, delegates found it almost impossible to think about the Articles of Confederation in the same way..[3]

One contentious issue facing the convention was the manner in which large and small states would be represented in the legislature, whether by equal representation for each state, regardless of its size and population, or by proportional representation, in which larger states would have a larger voice. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was represented in Congress by one vote.

The Virginia Plan proposed instead a legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature), in each of which the states would be represented in proportion to their Quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants.[4] States with a large population, like Virginia (which was the most populous state at the time), would thus have more representatives than smaller states. Large states supported this plan, and smaller states, which feared to lose substantial power in the national government, generally opposed it, preferring an alternative put forward by the New Jersey delegation on June 15. The New Jersey Plan proposed a single-chamber legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, as under the Articles of Confederation. In the end, the convention settled on the so-called Connecticut Compromise, creating a House of Representatives apportioned by population and a Senate in which each state is equally represented.

In addition to dealing with legislative representation, the Virginia Plan addressed other issues, as well, with many provisions not making it into the Constitution that emerged. It called for a national government of three brancheslegislative, executive, and judicial. Members of one of the two legislative chambers would be elected by the people; members of that chamber would then elect the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures. The Executive would be chosen by the legislative branch. Terms of office were unspecified, although the Executive and members of the popularly elected legislative chamber were to be limited to one term. The legislative branch would have the power to negate state laws in cases in which they were deemed incompatible with the articles of union. The concept of checks and balances was embodied in a provision that legislative acts could be vetoed by a council composed of the Executive and selected members of the judicial branch; their veto could be overridden by an unspecified legislative majority.