p3.+Virginia+Plan



Group Members and Roles Mailer: Lauren (with help from Amanda) Speaker: Alex Debate: Sarah Photographer/Photoshop: Clare (brochure graphic: Lauren) Print Journalist: Emilia (with [minor] help from Lauren) Radio PSA: Natalie and Amanda TV PSA: Natalie Facebook Page: Amanda 

=Group Slogan = Representation by population is the way to run this nation!

What Your Group Wants -- Plan for New Constitution =Bullet Points of Your Plan= =Orator: Text of Your Speech=

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Good Evening my fellow delegates and countrymen, my name is James Madison and I am for the Virginia Plan. Our nation, is currently standing on a tight rope, the right side being a successful and prosperous nation, and the left being a bottomless pit of oppression which is where we would have been if we had lost the Revolution. Now we are in a state where we can be thrown over either side. We are the laughing stock of Europe, e have a failing economy, weak interstate unity, and are falling into a state of near anarchy.media type="file" key="period3-groups-virginia.mp4" align="right"

The central government as it stands today has no power without the cooperation between the states. The government cannot force control over the states, but the states are too involved in their own affairs to help the government. Our system with creditors and debtors has resulted in debtor’s revolts in all 13 of our states. This is due to the increasing ability for debtors to pay off their debt with near valueless paper money, and creditors to lose profit in the process. If this continues at the rate we are going, our potential nation will be destroyed like a watermelon under a sledgehammer. We cannot, no we must not let this be our fate. Is that not why we are gathered here today in Philadelphia? To save our nation from the perilous path it is walking; to steer it in the right direction? We are trusted to have our wits about us in our quest to save our withering nation. As we have already fallen so far since the days of the revolution, this task seems extremely daunting. However, it must be done. I have the faith that every one of us is more than adequate enough to accomplish this task.

What is necessary for our nation to triumph is that we construct a strong united nation, comprised out of our 13 states. Without this unity that existed during the Revolution against the red coats, our nation is destined for violent destruction. The only way that our nation can run in its current state and with its current federal government is for all 13 of our young, radically different states to agree on the same issue at the same time. This obviously could never happen without intercolonial unity of our 13 developing states. With as much respect as I have to Thomas Jefferson, when he wrote the Declaration of Independence he referred united States of America with a lowercase u. He was not correctly displaying what our nation needs to succeed. We need to be the United States of America with an uppercase U, displaying the need for unity in our vast continent.

We are in need of a centralized federal government with representatives chosen by the people of our nation, not appointed by each state individually. In order for there to be equal representation and therefore the most unity, there needs to be representation directly proportional to population. That way one vote from Rhode Islandhas just as much power as a vote from New York,Massachusetts, or Virginia. With this system the best interests of the population of our United Stateswill be conveyed. William Paterson’s New Jersey Plan is foolish and is not in the best intentions of our nation as a whole.Paterson’s plan suggests that representation should be based on the state, each state possessing only one vote. This is truly not fair to the people of more populous states, as the proportion will be thrown off. In the New Jersey plan, a man in New Jersey will receive 5 times the political power than a man in Virginia. This is not equality as the colonial militia fought tirelessly for. If the New Jersey Plan goes into action, the hard work of our noble George Washington and the colonial militia will be for naught. With the Virginia Plan each and every man has the exact same political voice. Every representative symbolizes the same number of people as any other representative, regardless of which state they are from. This is the fairest form of representation. With equal representation for every man, equality and unity between the states will have been reached, creating the United States of America. Vote for the Virginia Plan.





=Debater: Possible Objections to Plan and Your Replies=

New Jersey might simply threaten to secede from the Nation: The truth is they need larger states like Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York to survive. New Jersey does not have the resources or population to become an independent colony. Large states provide so much to the smaller less developed states. They are a source of trade and protection.

New Jersey and other small states should have the same amount of representatives as larger states like Virginia: This is hardly fair as states like Virginia have much larger populations. This means they have much more diversity in political stance than a smaller state like New Jersey might have. Our nation must benefit the general population. As much of the population inhabits larger states, they must be well-represented in our legislature so as to make sure to satisfy as much of the people as politically possible in our great Nation.

New Jersey Plan reflects the belief that all the states should be considered individual entities: Our country succeeded when we united to get our independence from the British. Now, to overcome our economic and social crisis, we must unite again. We can no longer be thirteen individual entities. We are a United Nation.

The New Jersey Plan grants equal representation to the people: If we are to use the methods the New Jersey Plan suggests, the political power of a man in New Jersey would be so great as to be five times the power of a man in Virginia. No matter what way they put it; one man having five times the power of another simply because of the state he occupies hardly seems fair.

=Why Our Plan is Good: = =Print Journalist: Write Up of Convention Activity= //Featured in the Virginia News// The heavenly angels from the skies above sang in perfect harmony as James Madison pinpointed, at the Constitutional Convention, what this country needs to succeed. Madison began his speech with an outstanding metaphor saying that our nation “is currently standing on a tight rope, the right side being a successful and prosperous nation, and the left being a bottomless pit of oppression.” He stressed the fact that our country is falling to a “state of near anarchy” and that we “are the laughing stock of Europe” exemplifying the importance of making a decision at this Constitutional Convention. He went on to subtly point out the faults of the Articles of Confederation saying that the government has no control over the states and “the states are too involved in their own affairs to help the government” and that our country will have “no power without the cooperation from the state.” These facts are absolutely true and enforced by being so eloquently pointed out by Madison. Valiantly, he continued to stress the importance of “intercolonial unity of our thirteen developing states” and the need, in our brand new government, for representation to be “directly proportional to population.” Throughout his impressive oration, Madison used metaphors and repetition to stress the need for a unified, properly represented country.

Following his delightful speech, William Patterson of the New Jersey Plan spoke against the Virginia Plan. While often angrily and violently slamming his hand on the table next to him, Patterson spoke of the Virginia Plan using such vile words as “idiotic” and “ludicrous.” He also expressed that our country should not be “fooled into another autocracy” showing that he believes the people of the States to be foolish, gullible people.

The room filled with chatter about the speeches as James Madison, assisted by the skillful Edmund Randolph, and the obnoxious New Jersey opponents got up to battle it out, debate-style. Virginia and New Jersey had a dramatic and controversial start as Madison stated “we need to have equal rights or else we will be ruled by small states” which he later backed up with the fact that someone in New Jersey “will have five times as much representation” as someone in Virginia.

New Jersey fired back with the accusation that Virginians are loyalists, a clearly untrue statement that shows they were not properly informed and prepared for this case.

Benjamin Franklin tried, in vain, to settle the rivalry and establish some kind of “balance” saying that he needs to “keep the peace between New Jersey and Virginia so they can both get what they want.”

Then, Madison cleverly brought up the point that “with the New Jersey plan, all seven people in Rhode Island can have power over Virginia. Seven people disagree with five hundred thousand and bring the whole thing to a screaming halt.” Clearly, this exemplifies the flaw in the New Jersey plan that only seven people can tip the scale in a completely different direction, so getting a majority vote is nearly impossible.

The New Jersey side bitterly replied with the statement “majority always has stronger power” which is more attainable to small states with the New Jersey Plan, emphasizing their biased point.

Edmund Randolph ended this sizzling debate with the all-powerful interjection “We are a United Nation!” bringing it to a clear, patriotic end.

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=Radio PSA=

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