The Constitutional Convention was tasked
with proposing amendments to the Articles of
Confederation which would make it a more workable plan for national
government. The Convention began with the text of the Virginia Plan and Charles
Pinckney’s notes before them, and for three weeks, the provisions were
debated. The smaller states in the union were afraid of what they were
hearing. A legislative body with delegates assigned to each state by
proportion of either land size or population would put them at a disadvantage.
Someone had to speak out for the smaller states. During a break in the
Convention, the delegates from the smaller states met and hammered out their
own plan. Notably, the plan retained the equal representation of the states in
Congress.
William Peterson of New Jersey presented the plan to the Convention on June 15, 1787. The
plan became known as the New Jersey Plan. Though it included provisions that
the larger states would never agree to, it reasserted the smaller states’
position.
Also of interest is the British Plan.
The following text was taken from the Avalon Project’s reproduction of
Madison’s notes from the Convention. The text is largely unaltered as presented
here, but spelling has been corrected and abbreviations have been expanded.
1. Resolved that the articles of Confederation ought to be so revised,
corrected and enlarged, as to render the federal Constitution adequate to the
exigencies of Government, and the preservation of the Union.
3. Resolved that whenever requisitions shall be necessary, instead of the
rule for making requisitions mentioned in the articles of Confederation, the
United States in Congress assembled be authorized to make such requisitions in
proportion to the whole number of white and other free citizens and inhabitants
of every age, sex, and condition including those bound to servitude for a term
of years and three fifths of all other persons not comprehended in the
foregoing description, except Indians not paying taxes [3] ; that if such requisitions be not complied with, in
the time specified therein, to direct the collection thereof in the non
complying States and for that purpose to devise and pass acts directing and
authorizing the same; provided that none of the powers hereby vested in the
United States in Congress assembled shall be exercised without the consent of
at least — States, and in that proportion if the number of Confederated
States should hereafter be increased or diminished [4] .
7. Resolved that provision be made for the admission of new States into the
Union. [8]
8. Resolved the rule for naturalization ought to be the same in every State.
[9]
9. Resolved that a Citizen of one State committing an offense in another
State of the Union, shall be deemed guilty of the same offense as if it had
been committed by a Citizen of the State in which the offense was
committed. [10]
2. The establishment of a national judiciary was seen as a
key change to the Articles. See Article 3, Section
1.
3. Non payment of state assessments was a major problem for
the Congress; the ability to demand payment on a per capita basis is found in
the Constitution at Article 1, Section 2,
where representatives and direct taxes are apportioned by population. Despite
all the concern about direct taxes, history has not borne out their importance
for revenue rasing.
4. This is one of the few places where a diminution of
the number of states is contemplated.
5. The executive in this plan was seen as a multi-person
organization, with several checks on power, including a term limit and removal
by Congress when requested by the executives of the states. The power of
commander-in-chief was granted, but the plan did not want the any of the
members of the executive actually commanding troops on the battlefield.
6. Rounding out the three branches of government, the
judicial branch is similar in some details to the federal judiciary of the
Constitution. The plan did not provide for lower courts, just a Supreme
Tribunal, appointed for life by the Executive. The original jurisdiction of
the Tribunal is similar, though expanded in places and diminished in others,
than that of the Supreme Court (see Article 1,
Section 2).
7. Compare this to the Supremacy Clause of Article 6. This section gives the national government
teeth to enforce its supremacy clause that the Constitution does not
provide.
Most notably, the New Jersey Plan does not propose any structural changes to
the Congress, let alone address the concerns of the large states in terms of
proportionality.