Question

Under the Constitutional Convention, we have the New Jersey plan and the Virginia plan

Which plan of government would small states prefer and why?
Which plan of government would large states prefer and why?

Answer 1

Small states would favor the New Jersey Plan for its equal representation in a unicameral legislature, whereas large states would prefer the Virginia Plan due to proportional representation in a bicameral legislature. The Connecticut Compromise resolved this conflict by creating a two-chambered Congress combining features of both plans.

Step-by-step explanation:

Under the Constitutional Convention, small states would prefer the New Jersey Plan because it proposed a unicameral legislature in which each state had an equal vote regardless of its population size. This prevented larger states from having a disproportionate influence in the national legislature. On the other hand, large states would prefer the Virginia Plan, which called for a bicameral legislature with representation determined proportionally to the population of each state, allowing more populous states to have more representatives and, therefore, more influence. The conflict between the preference of small and large states for the Virginia and New Jersey Plans, respectively, was resolved through the Connecticut Compromise, which created a bicameral Congress with the Senate giving equal representation to all states and the House of Representatives based on population.