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InsightHorizon Digest

What were the 2 plans discussed at the Constitutional Convention

Author

John Thompson

Updated on April 04, 2026

The Virginia and New Jersey Plans. In the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan favored large states while the New Jersey Plan favored small states.

What were the two main debates at the Constitutional Convention?

The major debates were over representation in Congress, the powers of the president, how to elect the president (Electoral College), slave trade, and a bill of rights. Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Washington.

What did the Constitutional Convention do?

The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The point of the event was decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans.

What were the two plans for representation?

The New Jersey Plan (introduced by William Paterson, June 15, 1787) The Hamilton Plan (introduced by Alexander Hamilton, June 18, 1787)

What were the 3 major issues at the Constitutional Convention quizlet?

What were the three major equality issues at the Constitutional Convention? How were they resolved? The three major equality issues were equality and representation, slavery, and political equality.

What were the plans and compromises reached at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787?

To get the Constitution ratified by all 13 states, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had to reach several compromises. The three major compromises were the Great Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Electoral College.

What were the two major points of view that divided the convention what plans did each side propose to carry its view?

What were two major points of view that divided the convention? What plans did each side propose to carry its view? The two major points were the Virginia and New Jersey plans. They Virginia plan was where the amount of representation you receive in congress were based on population.

What was the Constitutional Convention quizlet?

A meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of government- the US Constitution.

What two plans for representation emerged what compromise was reached in the end?

The Virginia Plan provided for representation to be based on the population of each state. On the other hand, the New Jersey Plan proposed equal representation for every state. The Great Compromise, also called the Connecticut Compromise, combined both plans.

What two primary factors led to the calling of a Constitutional Convention?

Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays’s Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–September 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation.

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What was in the New Jersey plan?

William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan proposed a unicameral (one-house) legislature with equal votes of states and an executive elected by a national legislature. This plan maintained the form of government under the Articles of Confederation while adding powers to raise revenue and regulate commerce and foreign affairs.

What were the main plans that were adopted during the Constitutional Convention?

The Virginia and New Jersey Plans. In the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan favored large states while the New Jersey Plan favored small states.

What was the Virginia Plan?

Introduced to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison’s Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The plan called for a legislature divided into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with proportional representation.

What were three of the major challenges that the Constitutional Convention?

What were three of the major challenges that the Constitutional Convention delegates faced and how was each resolved quizlet? The three major disagreements faced by the delegates were Liberty versus strong national government, large states versus small states, and slavery.

What was the purpose of both the New Jersey and Virginia plans at the Constitutional Convention?

The Virginia Plan wanted a legislature in which states received representation in proportion to the size of their population, while the New Jersey plan wanted a legislature that gave each state equal representation, regardless of the size of its population.

What did the Virginia Plan and New Jersey plan have in common?

Common Ideas While each plan did have many differing ideas, they both did want the new government to be separated into three branches, with each branch having a separation of powers and the ability to balance each other out. You probably recognize this as the system of checks and balances.

What did the New Jersey plan argue for?

What did the New Jersey plan argue for? The New Jersey Plan was one option as to how the United States would be governed. The Plan called for each state to have one vote in Congress instead of the number of votes being based on population.

What compromises did the Constitution make on the institution of slavery?

Constitutional compromises: The Three-Fifths Compromise. During the Constitution Convention, the Framers made several compromises, including the method for counting enslaved Africans for the purposes of population (the Three-Fifths Compromise) and the end of the international slave trade.

Why was the Great Compromise also known as the Connecticut Compromise?

Their so-called Great Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise in honor of its architects, Connecticut delegates Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth) provided a dual system of congressional representation. In the House of Representatives each state would be assigned a number of seats in proportion to its population.

What did the Connecticut Compromise help to establish?

The compromise provided for a bicameral federal legislature that used a dual system of representation: the upper house would have equal representation from each state, while the lower house would have proportional representation based on a state’s population. … All revenue measures would originate in the lower house.

How did the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan differ?

How did the Virginia plan differ from the New Jersey plan? The Virginia Plan called for three branches of government and two houses of Congress. Representation in each house would be determined by population. The New Jersey Plan called for three branches of government and a single house of Congress.

Which states did this plan favor Why Virginia plan?

Virginia’s Plan was based on population. The larger states favored this plan because it would give them more representation in Congress. … The larger states wanted a larger influence in Congress because they has a larger population.

What was the reason for the Constitutional Convention quizlet?

What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention? To revise the Articles of Confederation and to form ideas for a new government.

What is a convention quizlet?

convention. a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.

What was the general atmosphere during much of the Constitutional Convention?

In an atmosphere that combined competitive, lively debate with tolerance and respect for differences of opinion, the delegates reached vital compromises on matters that threatened to divide the still loosely connected union of states.

What were the decisions of the Constitutional Convention delegates on the issue of trade?

They worked out a compromise with the Southern states. They agreed that Congress could not tax exports and that no law could be passed to ban the slave trade until 1808. And in a final concession to the South, the delegates approved a fugitive slave clause.

What goal did the convention keep in mind during their discussions?

What was the goal of the Constitutional Convention? to revise the articles of confederation.

What was the reason for the Constitutional Convention 5 points?

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation.

What are two proposals that became part of the Constitution from the New Jersey plan?

Key Points of the New Jersey Plan Restoring the unicameral structure from the Articles of Confederation. Each state was equal regardless of the size of its population. Power to tax and regulate interstate commerce. Gave Congress the power to tax.

When was the New Jersey plan?

He is probably best known, however, as the author of “The Small State Plan,” alternately called “The New Jersey Plan” or “The Paterson Plan,” proposed on June 15, 1787. The document was a response to the Virginia Plan, which would have given proportional power to the states based on their number of citizens.

What was one of the New Jersey plan proposals retained in the new constitution?

It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation in the lower house, but required the upper house to be weighted equally between the states. Each state would have two representatives in the upper house.