 The Convention agreed on several principles . Most importantly , they agreed that the Convention should go beyond its mandate merely to amend the Articles of Confederation , and instead should produce a new constitution outright . While some delegates thought this illegal , the Articles of Confederation were closer to a treaty between sovereign states than they were to a national constitution , so the genuine legal problems were limited . Another principle they agreed on was that the new government would have all the powers of the Confederation Congress , plus additional powers over the states . Once agreeing on these principles , the Convention voted on the Virginia plan and signaled their approval for it . Once this was done , they began modifying it . 
