Definition
James Madison of Virginia arrived at the Constitutional Convention early with a plan for a far stronger national government, and Virginia's governor, Edmund Randolph, presented it on May 29, 1787. It called for three branches and a Congress of two houses, with seats in both based on each state's free population or the taxes it paid; voters would elect the lower house, which would choose the upper house, and Congress would choose the executive. Madison also wanted Congress to have a veto over state laws "in all cases whatsoever," the phrase Parliament had used in the Declaratory Act of 1766, but the delegates voted the veto down on July 17. The plan meant replacing the Articles of Confederation rather than revising them, and it became the starting point for the Convention's debates.
Why it matters on the AP exam
The Virginia Plan began the central argument of the Convention: large states wanted representation by population, while small states feared being outvoted. Questions ask students to compare it with the New Jersey Plan and explain how the Great Compromise combined parts of both. The plan also marks the shift from a league of states toward a national government with three branches, which the final Constitution kept, so it appears in questions that compare the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.
Connections
- New Jersey Plan: the small states' answer, which kept one vote per state
- Great Compromise: combined House seats based on population with an equal vote in the Senate
- Articles of Confederation: the government the plan was meant to replace
Study it in context
Topic 3.8: The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification Watch this part