Representation was the first of the three major debates that the convention confronted. Representation became the convention's first issue because the Virginia Plan proposed a bicameral legislature, with both houses to be apportioned by population. Virginia and the other large states argued that this made sense since they would be paying a larger share of the taxes that would be needed to make this new government run. They also approved because, as the more populous states, they would have more representatives in Congress and would be able to have greater influence over the laws that the national Congress would pass.

The small states worried that the larger states would be able to ignore the wishes of the small states if the Virginia Plan were adopted. William Paterson, a delegate from the small state of New Jersey, proposed...