Excerpt from "The Virginia Plan"

Delivered to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787
Published in Documents of American History, edited by
Henry S. Commager, 1943

In February 1787, the Continental Congress was operating under the Articles of Confederation, America's first constitution. Congress authorized the thirteen state legislatures to elect delegates to a convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The convention's purpose was to revise and strengthen the Articles, which had proven inadequate as a framework for governing the young nation. The convention was scheduled to begin on May 14, but by that date only delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia had arrived. Travel by horseback or carriage over roads muddied by spring rains was slow and difficult. Representatives from eight states needed to be present before the convention could begin.

While waiting for more delegates to arrive, Virginia's delegates, including James Madison (1751–1836), hammered out the Virginia Plan, a proposal for an entirely new...