This plan was proposed at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 by William Paterson of New Jersey. Instead of scrapping the Articles of Confederation, the New Jersey Plan proposed to revise and strengthen them, and hence is also called the "Articles of Confederation revision."
Key tenets of the New Jersey Plan include:
- Unicameral legislature: unlike the Great Compromise, the plan proposed a single-house legislative body.
- Equal representation: each state would have one vote in the legislature. Representation is hence by states and not population, which was the basis under the Virginia Plan.
- Limited national government: the federal government would have power delegated to it by the states.
- Executive: The plan also proposed a plural executive (multiple individuals acting as a single executive).
The New Jersey Plan essentially aimed to maintain states' rights and sovereignty, while also providing the national government with some authority.