Which of the following statements was true about the Virginia Plan?
It proposed a legislature, with population determining representation.
It led to four of the first five presidents coming from Virginia.
It was greatly supported by states with small populations, who felt it would give them fair and equal representation.
It led to the creation of the Bill of Rights, a major idea of the Federalists.
The correct answer and explanation is :
The correct statement about the Virginia Plan is:
It proposed a legislature, with population determining representation.
Explanation:
The Virginia Plan was a proposal presented at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, written largely by James Madison. It called for a new structure of government with a stronger central authority, and its most notable feature was the idea of a bicameral legislature. In this plan, representation in both houses of the legislature would be based on population or financial contributions of the states. This meant that more populous states would have greater representation, as opposed to the system under the Articles of Confederation, where each state had one vote regardless of population.
This aspect of the Virginia Plan was heavily debated, as smaller states feared being overshadowed by larger states. The larger states, however, supported this plan as it gave them more power in the new government, reflecting their larger populations.
The Virginia Plan ultimately served as a starting point for the creation of the U.S. Constitution. The disagreements over representation between large and small states were resolved through the “Great Compromise” (also called the Connecticut Compromise), which established the current system of a bicameral legislature: the House of Representatives, where representation is based on population, and the Senate, where each state has equal representation with two senators per state.
Let’s analyze why the other statements are incorrect:
- It led to four of the first five presidents coming from Virginia: While it’s true that many early U.S. presidents came from Virginia (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe), this was not a result of the Virginia Plan. The Virginia Plan was about the structure of the legislature, not about presidential elections.
- It was greatly supported by states with small populations: Small states actually opposed the Virginia Plan because it would give more power to large states. Small states favored the New Jersey Plan, which proposed equal representation for each state, regardless of size.
- It led to the creation of the Bill of Rights: The Bill of Rights was primarily a result of the concerns of Anti-Federalists, who feared that the new Constitution did not adequately protect individual liberties. This was not a direct result of the Virginia Plan, which focused on government structure, not specific rights.