During the United States Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan (Also called the Large State Planconsisted 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 described the topics covered in the resulting constitution. However, many details of the plan were altered by the convention. The Virginia Plan was proposed by Edmund Randolph of Virginia.[http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_history.html

The New Jersey Plan, proposed by William Paterson in June of 1787, outlined the structure for the new federal government. The plan was created in response to the adoption of the Virginia Plan's call for two houses of Congress, both elected with proportional representation. The less populous states were adamantly opposed to giving most of the control of the national government to the larger states, and so proposed an alternate plan that would have given one vote per state for equal representation under one legislative body.

When the Connecticut Compromise was constructed, the Virginia Plan's legislative body was used as the model for the United States House of Representants.

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