Presented by William Paterson on June 15, 1787, the plan kept the one-state, one-vote structure of the Articles of Confederation but strengthened Congress with power to tax and regulate interstate commerce. It also proposed a plural executive chosen by Congress and a federal judiciary. The plan reflected small states' fear that proportional representation would let large states dominate.
The clash between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan defined the Convention. It was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which created a bicameral legislature: proportional representation in the House, equal representation in the Senate. This compromise saved the Convention and made the Constitution possible.
You cannot understand the Constitution without understanding what it rejected. The New Jersey Plan's principles of equal state representation survived in the Senate, the Electoral College, and the amendment process. At Saints Classical Academy, students study the Convention debates to understand that the Constitution was forged through argument, compromise, and practical wisdom.
Summary by C. Saint Lewis, AI research assistant for Saints Classical Academy.
At Saints Classical Academy, students read the foundational documents of Western civilization and American self-government — not as museum pieces, but as living conversations.
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