New Jersey Plan

[3] In response, the less populous states proposed an alternative plan that would have retained the one-vote-per-state representation under one legislative body from the Articles of Confederation.

[1] Following the defeat of the New Jersey Plan, Paterson and Madison's proposals were reconciled through the Connecticut Compromise, which combined elements of each to create the current structure of Congress today—a Senate in which states are provided equal representation regardless of population, and a House of Representatives in which representatives are apportioned based on population.

The Virginia Plan called for membership in two houses of the national legislature to be allocated to each state proportional to its population.

[7] As small state delegates became increasingly alarmed at the debate taking place, William Paterson, with the assistance of Connecticut's Roger Sherman, Maryland's David Brearley and Luther Martin, and New York's John Lansing, proposed a unicameral legislature.

Even though the New Jersey Plan significantly expanded Congress's power, the proposed increases were not sufficient to gain support from any of the more populous states.

[16] Even delegates that helped Paterson author the New Jersey Plan voted against it, including Connecticut's Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth.