Virginia Plan

(noun)

A proposal for a bicameral legislative branch in which each state would be represented in proportion to its population.

Related Terms

Examples of Virginia Plan in the following topics:

  • The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

    • In the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan favored large states while the New Jersey Plan favored small states.
    • The Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral legislature, a legislative branch with two chambers.
    • After the Virginia Plan was introduced, New Jersey delegate William Paterson asked for an adjournment to contemplate the Plan.
    • Paterson's New Jersey Plan was ultimately a rebuttal to the Virginia Plan .
    • The Virginia Plan was used, but some ideas from the New Jersey Plan were added.

  • Constitutional Issues and Compromises

    • The Virginia Plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch .
    • The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers.
    • After the Virginia Plan was introduced, New Jersey delegate William Paterson asked for an adjournment to contemplate the plan.
    • Paterson's New Jersey Plan was ultimately a rebuttal to the Virginia Plan.
    • Unsatisfied with the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan, Alexander Hamilton proposed his own plan.

  • The Virginia and New Jersey Plans

    • The Virginia delegation took the initiative to frame the debate by immediately drawing up and presenting a proposal known as the Virginia Plan, James Madison is given chief credit for this proposal.
    • The New Jersey plan was created in response to the Virginia Plan, which called for two houses of Congress both elected with apportionment according to population.
    • The Virginia Plan proposed a legislative branch consisting of two chambers (bicameral legislature).
    • Ultimately, the Virginia Plan was used, but some ideas from the New Jersey Plan were added.
    • House of Representatives, apportioned by population as desired by the Virginia Plan, and the Senate, granted equal votes per state as desired by the New Jersey Plan.

  • The Constitutional Convention

    • At the Convention, several plans were introduced.
    • James Madison's plan, known as the Virginia Plan, was the most important plan.
    • The Virginia Plan was a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch.
    • After the Virginia Plan was introduced, New Jersey delegate William Paterson asked for an adjournment to contemplate the plan.
    • Paterson's New Jersey Plan was ultimately a rebuttal to the Virginia Plan.

  • Federalists and Antifederalists

    • James Madison of Virginia crafted the Virginia Plan, which guaranteed proportional representation and granted wide powers to the Congress.
    • The smaller states, on the other hand, supported equal representation through William Paterson's New Jersey Plan.
    • The New Jersey Plan also increased the Congress' power, but it did not go nearly as far as the Virginia Plan.

  • A New Constitution

    • Delegates from these states supported the Virginia Plan, crafted by James Madison, which included a system of proportional representation in Congress as well as an extension of congressional powers.
    • This plan also proposed a bicameral legislature.
    • Debate over the Virginia vs.
    • The Compromise indicated that each state would be given equal representation (as per the New Jersey Plan) in one house of Congress and proportional representation (as per the Virginia Plan) in the other.
    • George Mason of Virginia said he would not support the Constitution unless it included a Bill of Rights.

  • Gabriel's Rebellion

    • Gabriel's Rebellion was a planned slave revolt in Virginia in 1800 that was quelled before it could begin.
    • During the summer of 1800 in Richmond, Virginia, Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved literate blacksmith, planned a revolt that would come to be known as "Gabriel's Rebellion."
    • In 1800, nearly 40 percent of the total population of Virginia were slaves, concentrated on plantations in the Tidewater area and west of Richmond.
    • In addition to the large numbers of enslaved African Americans, the increasing number of freed slaves in Virginia made the region ripe for rebellion.
    • After plans for the rebellion were quelled, many slave holders greatly restricted the slaves' rights of travel.

  • McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

    • McClellan, recently having ascended to general chief of all Union armies in addition to remaining an army commander for the Army of the Potomoc, revealed on January 12, 1862, a plan to transport the Army of the Potomoc by ship to Urbanna, Virginia in order to outflank Confederate forces near Washington and capture Richmond.
    • McClellan rebutted this decision in a 22-page letter to the President, outlining his Urbanna plan.
    • McClellan altered his plan so that his forces would land at Fort Monroe and move northwest up the Virginia Peninsula, but Congress and the press were highly critical of what was perceived as a missed opportunity to catch the Confederates in their previous positions near Washington.
    • In turn, the Union’s morale was crushed following McClellan’s retreat and what was perceived to be poor strategic planning on the part of Union army leadership.
    • General McClellan launched an invasion of Virginia, intending to take the Confederate capital of Richmond and bring an early end to the Civil War.

  • Early Opposition to Slavery

    • The early 1800's witnessed attempted large-scale slave rebellions, including those planned by Gabriel Prosser.
    • In reaction, Virginia and other state legislatures passed restrictions on free blacks, as well as prohibiting the education, assembly, and hiring out of slaves, to restrict their chances to learn and to plan similar rebellions.
    • Gabriel planned the revolt during the spring and summer of 1800.
    • He warned Virginia Governor James Monroe, who called out the state militia.
    • By that time, Virginia's free blacks numbered 30,466, or 7.2% of the total black population.

  • The Battle of Fredericksburg

    • McClellan into action, he issued orders to replace McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.
    • Lee at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, but had not been able to destroy Lee's army, nor did he pursue Lee back into Virginia aggressively enough for Lincoln.
    • The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E.
    • Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside.
    • Burnside's plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November and race to the Confederate capital of Richmond before Lee's army could stop him.