Overview

This assignment will help you review the 3 major plans proposed at the Constitutional Convention and also help you get used to using external Political Science resources available at the PCC Shatford Library.  Please  follow the directions, as they will walk you through this assignment step by step.

In this assignment you will summarize the major plans that impacted the creation of the Constitution:

• The Virginia Plan
• The New Jersey Plan
• Connecticut/Great Compromise

You will need to do research in the PCC library. Don’t worry — this can be done virtually! This assignment will also get you used to creating summaries of content.

Directions

Step 1: Research Your Plan

Use the resources in the POLSC 1: Introduction to American Government Library Guide to find 2 external sources about your plan. The Article Databases tab in this resource will be particularly helpful if you are off campus. For this assignment, you may find the Gale Virtual Reference Library and the US History in Context databases useful. 

Off Campus Access Information Page if you need more information about off-campus access to library resources. 

Step 2: Summarize Each Plan 

In your own words, create a 150 word summary of each plan (450 words total). Here are some questions to guide you. Please do not simply answer the questions, but rather use them to create a well-organized summary of your information. 

1. Who wrote the plan?
2. Who benefited from the plan?
3. What specific powers will the congress have?
4. What powers (if any) will the executive have?
5. Is there a separate judiciary and interpreter of laws?
6. What will the relationship look like between the national and state governments with this plan?

Again, these questions are meant to guide you, please create a summary using your own words. For more help on summary writing, you can check out this How to Write a Summary PDF (Links to an external site.). Make certain to create an Chicago citation for your sources. Many of the PCC Shatford Library Databases provide resources for creating citations. However, if you need help citing sources, please check out this resource for Citations from the PCC Library. 

If you have difficulty with your writing, check out PCC’s 24/7 Online Tutoring Help. A tutor will not write your work for you, but will help to give you ideas about how to improve your writing.