Virginia Plan: Difference between revisions
| [pending revision] | [pending revision] |
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
←Blanked the page |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox document |
|||
|document_name = Sofia Ballesteros Plan |
|||
|image = Virginia plan front 1 - hi-res.jpg |
|||
|image_width = 220px |
|||
|image_caption = Front side of the Virginia Plan |
|||
|date_created = May 29, 1787 |
|||
|location_of_document = [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]] |
|||
|writer = [[James Madison]] |
|||
|purpose = Propose a structure of government to the [[Philadelphia Convention]] |
|||
}} |
|||
The '''''Virginia Plan''''' (also known as the '''Randolph Plan''', after its sponsor, or the '''Large-State Plan''') was a proposal by [[Virginia]] delegates for a [[Bicameralism|bicameral legislative]] branch.<ref>{{cite book |
|||
|last= Frantzich |
|||
|first= Stephen E. |
|||
|coauthors= Howard R. Ernst |
|||
|title= The Political Science Toolbox: A Research Companion to the American Government |
|||
|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield |
|||
|date= 2008 |
|||
|pages= 24 |
|||
|url= http://books.google.com/?id=Ua_0ev7pRLUC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24 |
|||
|isbn= 0742547620 }}</ref> The plan was drafted by [[James Madison]] while he waited for a quorum to assemble at the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] of 1787.<ref name="Roche">{{cite journal |
|||
|last= Roche |
|||
|first= John P. |
|||
|title= The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action |
|||
|journal= American Political Science Review |
|||
|volume= 55 |
|||
|date= December 1961}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/dube/inde4.htm |
|||
|title=A Multitude of Amendments, Alterations and Additions |
|||
|author=Ann Marie Dube |
|||
|publisher=National Park Service |
|||
|date=May 1996 }}</ref> The Virginia Plan was notable for its role in setting the overall agenda for debate in the convention and, in particular, for setting forth the idea of [[apportionment (politics)|population-weighted representation]] in the proposed national legislature. |
|||
==Background== |
|||
The Constitutional Convention gathered in [[Philadelphia]] to revise the [[Articles of Confederation]]. The Virginia delegation took the initiative to frame the debate by immediately drawing up and presenting a proposal, for which delegate [[James Madison]] is given chief credit. It was, however, [[Edmund Randolph]], the Virginia governor at the time, who officially put it before the convention on May 29, 1787, in the form of 15 resolutions.<ref>[http://www.footnote.com/page/187 Transcription of the Virginia Plan]</ref> |
|||
The scope of the resolutions, going well beyond tinkering with the Articles of Confederation, succeeded in broadening the debate to encompass fundamental revisions to the structure and powers of the national government. The resolutions proposed, for example, a new form of national government having three branches (legislative, executive and judicial). One contentious issue facing the convention was the manner in which large and small states would be represented in the legislature, whether by equal representation for each state, regardless of its size and population, or proportionate to population, with larger states having more votes than less-populous states. Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was represented in Congress by one vote. It was also unicameral. |
|||
==Principles== |
|||
The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers ([[Bicameralism|bicameral legislature]]), with the dual principles of [[rotation in office]] and [[recall election|recall]] applied to the lower house of the national legislature.<ref>"Res[olved] that the members of the first branch of the National Legislature ought to be elected by the people of the several States every for the term of;___...to be incapable of reelection for the space of ___after the expiration of their term of service; and to be subject to recall." Max Farrand, ed., ''The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787'', 4 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1911), 1:20.</ref> Each of the states would be represented in proportion to their “Quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants.”<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/const/vatexta.htm "Variant Texts of the Virginia Plan, Presented by Edmund Randolph to the Federal Convention, May 29, 1787. Text A."], The Avalon Project at Yale Law School</ref> States with a large population, like Virginia (which was the most populous state at the time), would thus have more representatives than smaller states. Large states supported this plan, and smaller states generally opposed it, preferring an alternative put forward on June 15. The [[New Jersey Plan]] proposed a single-chamber legislature in which each state, regardless of size, would have one vote, as under the Articles of Confederation. In the end, the convention settled on the [[Connecticut Compromise]], creating a [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] apportioned by population and a [[United States Senate|Senate]] in which each state is equally represented. |
|||
In addition to dealing with legislative representation, the Virginia Plan addressed other issues as well, with many provisions that did not make it into the Constitution that emerged. It called for a national government of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Members of one of the two legislative chambers would be elected by the people; members of that chamber would then elect the second chamber from nominations submitted by state legislatures. The executive would be chosen by the legislative branch. |
|||
Terms of office were unspecified, but the executive and members of the popularly elected legislative chamber could not be elected for an undetermined time afterward. The legislative branch would have the power to negate state laws if they were deemed incompatible with the articles of union. The concept of [[checks and balances]] was embodied in a provision that legislative acts could be vetoed by a council composed of the executive and selected members of the judicial branch; their veto could be overridden by an unspecified legislative majority. |
|||
[[Image:VirginiaPlan.png|thumb|center|800px|The Virginia Plan]] |
|||
{{Wikisource}} |
|||
== References == |
|||
{{reflist}} |
|||
{{US Constitution}} |
|||
[[Category:American Revolution]] |
|||
[[Category:Political history of the United States]] |
|||
[[Category:1787 in Virginia]] |
|||
[[Category:1787 in American politics]] |
|||
[[de:Virginia-Plan]] |
|||
[[fr:Plan de Virginie]] |
|||
[[it:Piano della Virginia]] |
|||
[[ko:버지니아 안]] |
|||