Lesson 10: Why Was Representation a Major Issue at the Philadelphia Convention?

Primary Sources


Hamilton Plan for a National Government

Alexander Hamilton introduced a plan for a national government at the Philadelphia Convention on June 18, 1787. Hamilton's plan consisted of eleven resolutions. It advocated three branches for the national government: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Convention adjourned without discussion of his plan.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/hamtextb.asp


James Madison's Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787

Madison's day-by-day journals on the proceedings at the Constitutional Convention.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/debcont.asp


New Jersey Plan (1787)

The New Jersey Plan was presented by William Paterson of New Jersey to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on June 15, 1787. It called for a one-house national legislature, in which each state would have equal representation. This arrangement would favor small states. The New Jersey Plan followed the framework of the Articles of Confederation and favored a weak national government.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/patexta.asp


The constitution of the Pennsylvania Society, for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage

The guiding document of what is now commonly called the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, the first such society in the nation's history.

Link: http://www.archive.org/details/constitutionacto00penn


The Statistical Abstract of the United States

The Statistical Abstract of the United States is an annual publication of the U.S. Census Bureau, describing social and economic aspects of the United States.

Link: https://bit.ly/1pgr7Iq


The Virginia Plan (1787)

The Virginia Plan was presented by Virginia delegate Edmund Randolph to the Philadelphia Convention on May 29, 1787. It provided for a national government composed of three branches. It proposed a Congress of two houses, both of which would be based on proportional representation. The Virginia Plan favored a strong national government.at the Philadelphia Convention that provided for a national government composed of three branches. It proposed a Congress of two houses, both of which would be based on proportional representation. The Virginia Plan favored a strong national government.

Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/vatexta.asp


United States Constitution

The supreme law of the United States that provides the framework for the government. The Constitution outlines the nation's institutions of government and the most important rights of the people. The document was created in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The government created by the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789.

Link: http://civiced.org/constitution