What was the Virginia Plan?

The Virginia Plan was a proposal for a strong national government drafted primarily by James Madison and introduced by Virginia governor Edmund Randolph on May 29, 1787, the fourth working day of the Constitutional Convention. The plan framed the entire convention's agenda and formed the starting point from which the Constitution evolved. The plan contained 15 resolutions.

It called for a national government of three branches: a bicameral legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. The first chamber of the legislature would be elected by the people of each state, with seats apportioned by either free population or each state's contribution to the national treasury. The second chamber would be elected by the first chamber from candidates nominated by the state legislatures. Both chambers would be apportioned by population, which would have given large states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts dominant representation.

The legislature would have power to legislate in all cases to which the separate states are incompetent, to veto state laws contravening the Articles of Union, and to use force against states failing in their duties. An executive, chosen by the legislature, would have a single term and the power to administer national laws. A national judiciary would be appointed by the legislature and would have jurisdiction over questions of federal law and disputes between states. A council of revision composed of the executive and several judges could veto legislation.

The plan also called for the convention to draft a new constitution rather than merely amend the Articles of Confederation, a controversial step that ratifying conventions later validated. Madison had spent the months before the convention studying confederations ancient and modern, and he distilled his conclusions into a 1787 memorandum titled "Vices of the Political System of the United States." His argument was that the Articles had failed because they relied on state cooperation rather than direct national authority, and that any new government had to act on individuals as well as states.

The Virginia Plan reflected this view by replacing requisitions on states with direct federal taxation, by giving the national government supremacy over state laws, and by creating an executive and judiciary. Small states reacted strongly. William Paterson introduced the New Jersey Plan on June 15, 1787 as a counter, calling for equal representation of states in a single chamber.

The deadlock between the two plans was resolved by the Great Compromise of July 16, 1787, which mixed proportional representation in the House with equal state representation in the Senate. Most other elements of the Virginia Plan, including separation into three branches and direct federal authority, survived into the final Constitution.