According to the Virginia Plan, how would representation in Congress be allocated?

• A. Smaller States Would Have Equal Representation As Larger States
• B. Representation Determined By State Name
• C. Larger States Would Have Representatives Based On Population
• D. States Would Determine Representation By Lottery

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is proportional representation. The Virginia Plan proposed that representation in Congress would be based on a state's population (and its financial contributions), so larger states would have more representatives. This reflects the belief that a state’s influence in the national government should grow with its size. It contrasts with the idea of equal representation, where every state gets the same number of representatives, which was the centerpiece of the opposing plan. To balance the different interests, the later framework created a two-house Congress with proportional representation in the lower house and equal representation for states in the upper house.