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==__Martha Washington__ == Martha Washington, born on June 2, 1731, was and still is known as "The First Lady." She was born on Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County in Virginia. She had an informal education but was probably trained at home in music and sewing along with household management. Martha was first married to Daniel Parke Curtis when she was 19 years old. They had four kids and lived in a mansion ironically named "The White House." A year after his death, Martha married Colonel George Washington in 1759. Throughout his presidency she was very supportive but didn't like the restrictions that came with being the First Lady. For instance, she didn’t like the idea that the press followed her every move and recorded everything she did such as taking her grandchildren to the circus. Since Washington was the first President of the United States, he had the opportunity to set precedents. Martha helped and encouraged him to define what kind of President he would be for his country. This included supporting him through the decision making process during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia.

__N____ew Jersey and Virginia Plans__

 In the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia, delegates met to discuss the revisions to the Articles of Confederation. Early on in the meeting, the Virginia Plan, created by Edmund Randolph and James Madison, was fabricated and presented as an option for the new form of government. In the Virginia Plan, representation would be decided by population. This pleased the larger states that would get more votes in Congress, since they had a larger population. There would be three branches with two legislatures: an upper house and a lower house.  There was also the New Jersey Plan created by William Paterson. In the New Jersey Plan, each state would get one vote regardless of the state's population. This pleased the smaller states who were scared that the larger states would become too powerful because of their population. Like the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan would have three branches of government, but it would only have one legislature.  In the end, the delegates agreed on certain parts of each plan which led to the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise called for a legislature with two houses. The lower house would be called the House of Representatives, and representatives would be elected by all men who could vote. The number of representatives would be determined by the population of the state. This pleased the larger states that supported the Virginia Plan. Members of the upper house would be known as the Senate, and two were elected from each state regardless of the state’s population. This pleased the smaller states that supported the New Jersey Plan.  This is an important part of history because we still govern with these rules created in 1787. We still have a House of Representatives and a Senate. If we didn't have the debate on whether to govern with the New Jersey Plan or the Virginia Plan, we wouldn't have had the Great Compromise, which is so influential to our system of government today.