The virginia plan proposed a bicameral legislative branch with proportional representation in both houses of congress, which would have given states with larger populations more representatives than states with smaller populations, enabling the larger states to dominate the national political agenda.

the fact that the populations of the largest southern states included hundreds of thousands of slaves only added to the concerns of the small, and northern, states. a debate ensued over how slaves were to be counted.

take a stance (either 1 or 2 below) and defend it, based upon your interpretation of collier and collier. which option would have likely strengthened the position of the southern states in making policy? how would your selected option have impacted the future prospects the african population going forward? confine your arguments to the actual context of the debate (1787).

1. slaves should not be counted at all.

2. slaves should be counted as whole individuals.