In the late 1780s, prominent political leaders in the United States came to realize
             that the government created under the Articles of Confederation was ineffective and
             impractical and could not serve a nation in managing relationships among states nor
             handle foreign nations. The fear of creating a government that was too powerful was the
             basis for foundation of the Articles of Confederation. It created a weak national
             government that allowed for most of the power to be under the control of the state
             legislatures. Under the Articles, Congress had no means to prevent war or security
             against foreign invasion. The federal government could not check the quarrels between
             states or regulate interstate trade, collect taxes, enforce laws. These weaknesses of the
             confederation distressed political leaders; in response, they requested a assemblage in
             order to revise the Articles and revive the ailing nation. In May of 1787, representatives
             from each state gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to find the means of turning the
             United States government into an efficient and powerful business that conducted affairs
             The delegates meeting at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787
             were given expressed consent to alter and revise the Articles of Confederation. With the
             exception of those from New Jersey and Virginia, the delegates intended to revise the
             Articles. One of 55 delegates, William Paterson and his colleagues Roger Sherman,
             Ellsworth, and Dickinson offered a list of suggestions for revising the Articles of
             Confederation in his New Jersey Plan. Paterson was a delegate from New Jersey who
             favored the weak national government that the Articles created. Patterson asserted the
             rights of the small states against the large states and wished to expand upon the Articles
             making a more practical and efficient government. The New Jersey Plan suggested the
             Congress maintain its unica...