Page:The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 Volume 3.djvu/617

 to the united states in congress and to the individual states composing the union, agreeably to the 13th article of the confederation—

3. Resolved, That the federal government of the united states ought to consist of a supreme legislative, executive, and judiciary—

4. Resolved, That the powers of legislation be vested in Congress—

5. [In margin: “See Mr. Lansing—”]

6. [In margin: “See Governor Randolph’s. 7th Prop.”]

7. [In margin: “Same—9th.”]

Resolved, That every State in the Union as a State possesses an equal Right to, and Share of, Sovereignty, Freedom, and Independance—

Resolved, therefore, that the Representation in the supreme Legislature ought to be by States, otherwise some of the States in the Union will possess a greater Share of Sovereignty, Freedom, and Independance than others—

Whereas it is necessary in Order to form the People of the U. S. of America into a Nation, that the States should be consolidated, by which means all the Citizens thereof will become equally intitled to and will equally participate in the same Privileges and Rights, and in all waste, uncultivated, and back Territory and Lands; it is therefore resolved, that all the Lands contained within the Limits of each State individually, and of the U. S. generally be considered as constituting one Body or Mass, and be divided into thirteen or more integral Parts.

Resolved, That such Divisions or integral Parts shall be styled Districts.

III

[A fair copy of the first four resolutions of II, but not numbered, and in the second resolution “shall” is changed to “ought to”.]

These documents evidently represent preliminary sketches of the New Jersey Plan, and a careful study of the probable origin of the various provisions shows clearly that the completed New Jersey Plan was doubtless a joint product.

Paterson’s copy of the plan is to be found in a little book into which he also copied the Virginia Plan, the Report of the Committee of the Whole, and Hamilton’s Plan. The resolutions are written on the right-hand pages; certain phrases omitted in copying or changes in wording are written on the left-hand pages with marks to show the places of their insertion. For example, in the doubtful reading of the fourth article, the right-hand page has the words “and