 Prior to the start of the Convention , the Virginian delegates met and , drawing largely from Madison 's suggestions , came up with what came to be known as the Virginia Plan , also known as the Large State Plan . For this reason , James Madison is sometimes called the Father of the Constitution . Presented by Virginia governor Edmund Randolph on May 29 , 1787 , the Virginia Plan proposed a very powerful bicameral legislature . Both houses of the legislature would be determined proportionately . The lower house would be elected by the people , and the upper house would be elected by the lower house . The executive would exist solely to ensure that the will of the legislature was carried out and would therefore be selected by the legislature . The Virginia Plan also created a judiciary , and gave both the executive and some of the judiciary the power to veto , subject to override . 
