Artifact The Virginia Plan: James Madison and Edmund Randolph were the main proposers of the Virginia Plan. One main idea that stemmed from this plan was the idea of separation of powers into the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch, which was influenced by Montesquieu. Also, it made a bicameral legislature with houses that are based proportionally off of population in a state. The larger states benefitted from this type of plan. The legislative branch has the power to null state laws that contradict the articles of the union. The executive branch and some members of the judicial branch can veto any provisions made by the legislative branch. There is a separate judiciary and interpreter of laws. The New Jersey Plan: William Patterson proposed the New Jersey Plan as a response to the Virginia Plan. The smaller states would benefit from this plan because there would be equal representation for all states for the two houses. This was a plan that was not based off of populations. Through this plan, Congress had the ability to regulate commerce state to state, to create funds for the government through tariffs, to collect taxes off citizens of the states and count 3/5s for a slave, to select federal executives, and to recall their decisions. The executive branch has the ability to appoint the judiciary, as represented through a Supreme Tribunal. The judicial branch is the main power in federal impeachment and has last say in court cases. There is a separate judiciary and interpreter of laws. The federal government is the supreme law of the land and can override any of the state laws. This plan wanted to amend the Articles of Confederation. Connecticut/Great Compromise: Roger Sherman proposed the Connecticut Plan as a compromise to the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. This plan is also known as the Great Compromise. Through this plan, the legislature would be bicameral with the lower house (the House) based off of population proportional and the upper house (the Senate) equally represented with two delegates for each state. Slaves would counts as 3/5th s of a person for population reasons. The house had the power to create legislation that would pertain to the budget of the nation. The judicial branch would have the power to review court cases. The executive branch would act the head of the nation. Each one of the branches had its own checks and balances. This plan was composed of idea from the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, and it would be the version of the Constitution that would be ratified. This plan had a separate judiciary and interpreter of laws. Overall, the federal government has the final say over any state decisions. | Reflection The assignment that I chose to reflect on is the comparison of the Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, and Conneticut Plan. Through this project, I learned the importance of planning ahead and researching your topic. My greatest weakness in school is probably planning ahead and procrastination. Most of the time I do a bulk of my work right before the project is due. By having different assignments for each step of the project, I am learning the process of separating a large project into smaller ones. I know I need to work fully explaining myself, and completely answer the questions of an assignment. For the next assignment, I hope to expand on my ideas and develop my analysis more. I really want to do well in this class, so I hope to take the feed back from the professor, and change the same problems in my next assignment. |