The Virginians introduce their plan for a new National Government, which officially shocks the Convention since they believed (officially) that they were there only to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation.

The Convention adjourns to the Committee of the Whole – which is the same people, in the same room with the same purpose as the Convention but without General Washington sitting on the dais. So who is in charge of the discussion and debates that will begin with the Virginia Plan and end up with what we know so well as our Government?

He was the 14th President of the United States, and he died in disgrace and failure. But for the moment, he is the man who is so well respected that he is chosen to lead the Committee of the Whole in its important work. His name is Nathaniel Gorham.

He will control the discussions of The Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan (and eventually the Connecticut Compromise) in the first days of the Convention.