Virginia Plan
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The Virginia Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Proposed by Edmund Randolph, but written largely by James Madison, it called for a strong central "national" government. The original plan included a three-branch government, just as there is today. However, Randolph changed his mind later during the Convention at Philadelphia, and wanted the executive branch to consist of three people from different sections of the country (New England, Mid-Atlantic, and South) in order to obtain a balance of representation. The Virginia plan urged that a state's weight in votes toward congressmen be proportional to that state's population or wealth, which would be advantageous Virginian representation, which was about 700,000 (dwarfing, for example, Delaware's 27,000), and that the Senate be chosen by the representatives, so that the Senate indirectly would be based on population as well.
The Virginia plan consisted of 15 resolutions, each covering a specific aspect of the proposed system of government. These resolutions formed an agenda for the ensuing debate of the convention, and in broad outline describe the topics covered in the resulting constitution. However, many details of the plan were altered by the convention.
External link
- Text of the Virginia Plan, as reported by Madison (with links to variant texts) (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/debates/529.htm#rand)
See also
- New Jersey plan - Proposal advocated by less populous states to give one vote per state for equal representation.
- Connecticut Compromise - "Great Compromise" proposed two houses: a lower house which was elected in proportion to population, and an upper house, where the people of each state, regardless of size, collectively would have equal representation resulting in the current United States House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, respectively.