New Jersey Plan
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The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government proposed by William Paterson on June 15, 1787. The plan was created in response to the Virginia Plan's call for two houses of Congress, both elected with proportional representation. The less populous states were adamantly opposed to giving most of the control of the national government to the larger states, and so proposed an alternate plan that would have given one vote per state for equal representation under one legislative body.
When the Connecticut Compromise was constructed, the New Jersey Plan's legislative body was used as the model for the United States Senate.
Under the New Jersey Plan, the organization of the legislature was similar to that of the modern day United Nations and other like institutions. This position reflected the belief that the states were independent entities, and, as they entered the United States of America freely and individually, so they remained. Also, the plan was designed for the equality of states in terms of physical size, so that a smaller state would have equivalent rights to those of a larger state.
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