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The Constitutional Convention: The Virginia and New Jersey Plan

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The Constitutional Convention: The Virginia and New Jersey Plan
There was a critical disagreement between the small states and the large states. The small states believed all states should have equal representation in congress, while the larger states thought states should have proportional representation. The framers put forth various plans to solve this difficulty. The two plans proposed were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. Each of these had advantages and disadvantages for each of the sides. Overall, the Virginia Plan favored the larger states, while the New Jersey Plan favored the small states. Eventually both sides decided on the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise solved the problem of representation because all states were able to receive equal power in congress. This enabled larger states in the House to have power over taxes and spending, while smaller states in the Senate could check the house’s decisions. As a result, this creates equality within our government.
There were advantages and disadvantages to the Virginia Plan. The plan was drafted by James Madison and it was a plan for national government. One of the advantages was a strong national government. (“We the People Textbook” 116) Another advantage was that there would be a state government and a national government that would govern the people. Both of these governments would get all their power from the people, this system is now called the federal system. Collecting taxes and making and enforcing laws would be part of the national governments power. The government would have three branches, the legislative, the judicial and the executive. The national government would have the House of Representatives and the senate. A disadvantage for the small states was that the Virginia Plan proposed was that the number of representatives from each state would be based on the population. This meant that states with a less people would have less representation than the states with a more inhabitants.
There were compensations and drawbacks to the New

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