When delegates arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, most of them expected to revise the Articles of Confederation. What happened instead was much bigger than that. It became clear almost immediately that the Articles could not simply be fixed. The government they created was too weak. It could not collect taxes, control trade, or force states to follow national laws. Delegates agreed that something had to change, but they could not agree on how much.
James Madison of Virginia came to Philadelphia with a plan for a completely new government, one that would be much stronger than what the Articles had created. Not all delegates supported his ideas. Delegates from smaller states were strongly opposed and introduced their own proposal. For weeks, the two sides argued back and forth. The debate came down to one central question: how much power should large states have compared to small ones?
The Virginia Plan
James Madison had been working on his proposal for months before the convention started. On May 29, 1787, Virginia's governor, Edmund Randolph, presented the plan to the other delegates. The Virginia Plan called for replacing the Articles of Confederation with a new national government made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch would have its own responsibilities and enough power to limit the others.
Congress would be divided into two houses. The people of each state would vote directly for members of the lower house. Members of the upper house would be chosen by the lower house from the names put forward by state governments. The most important part of the plan was that both houses would have state representatives based on each state's population. States with more people would have more votes and more control over national decisions. Large states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts supported this plan. Smaller states argued that it was deeply unfair to them.
The New Jersey Plan
William Paterson of New Jersey presented a different plan on June 15, 1787. Instead of replacing the Articles of Confederation, Paterson wanted to revise and strengthen them. His plan would give Congress new powers it did not have under the Articles, including the ability to collect taxes and manage trade with other countries and between states. Most delegates agreed that these new powers were necessary, regardless of which plan they supported.
The biggest difference was how states would be represented in Congress. The New Jersey Plan kept the rule that every state would get one equal vote, no matter how large or small it was. Paterson argued that delegates had come to Philadelphia to improve the existing government, not replace it. He also warned that smaller states would never agree to a system where larger states had more control. On June 19, 1787, the convention voted to reject the New Jersey Plan, seven states to three. Smaller states refused to accept this result, and the debate over representation was far from over.