Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Written by James Madison and proposed by Edmund Randolph (devised, however, by others), it pushed for a strong central government. The original plan included a three-branch government, just as there is today. However, Randolph later during the Convention at Philadelphia changed his mind, and wanted the executive branch to consist of three people from different sections of the country (New England, Mid-Atlantic, and South) in order to obtain a balance of representation. His plan also urged that a state's weight in votes toward congressmen be proportional to that state's population or wealth, which would be advantageous Virginian representation, which was about 700,000 (dwarfing, for example, Delaware's 27,000). The Virginian plan was to be torn apart by delegates, and only bits and pieces would be used from it.