 After the Virginia Plan was introduced , New Jersey delegate William Paterson asked for an adjournment to contemplate the Plan . Under the Articles of Confederation , each state had equal representation in Congress , exercising one vote each . The Virginia Plan threatened to limit the smaller states ' power by making both houses of the legislature proportionate to population . On June 14 and 15 , 1787 , a small @-@ state caucus met to create a response to the Virginia Plan . The result was the New Jersey Plan , otherwise known as the Small State Plan . 
