The Virginia Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United State Government at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Written by James Madison and proposed by Edmund Randolph (devised, however, by others), it pushed for a strong central government. The original plan included a three-branch government, just as there is today. However, Randolph later during the Convention at Philadelphia changed his mind, and wanted the executive branch to consist of three people from different sections of the country (New England, Mid-Atlantic, and South) in order to obtain a balance of representation. His plan also urged that a state's weight in votes toward congressmen be proportional to that state's population or wealth, which would be advantageous Virginian representation, which was about 700,000 (dwarfing, for example, Delaware's 27,000). The Virginian plan was to be torn apart by delegates, and only bits and pieces would be used from it.

See also

• New Jersey plan - Proposal advocated by less populous states to give one vote per state for equal representation.
• Connecticut Compromise - "Great Compromise" proposed two houses: a lower house which was elected in proportion to population, and an upper house, where the people of each state, regardless of size, collectively would have equal representation resulting in the current United States House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, respectively.

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