States that would support the Virginia Plan were mostly the large- population states at the time of the Constitutional Convention, because the plan based representation on population rather than giving each state an equal vote.

Core idea in simple terms

The Virginia Plan called for a bicameral (two-house) legislature in which seats were apportioned according to a state’s population or financial contributions.

This naturally appealed to states that had more people and thus stood to gain more power in the new Congress.

Concrete examples of supporting states

Examples of states whose delegates supported, or strongly tended to support, the Virginia Plan include:

  • Virginia – The author and sponsor of the plan, and one of the most populous states.
  • Pennsylvania – A large and wealthy state that favored representation by population.
  • Massachusetts – Another heavily populated state that backed proportional representation.
  • North Carolina – A larger southern state inclined toward the plan’s population-based system.
  • South Carolina – Benefited from its growing population and supported the plan in votes at the convention.
  • Georgia – Though relatively new, it aligned with other southern states in favoring the plan.
  • Connecticut – Its delegates at one key vote sided with the Virginia Plan, though the state later pushed the Connecticut (Great) Compromise.

In voting on whether the Virginia Plan should be preferred to the rival New Jersey Plan, the states recorded as voting for the Virginia Plan were: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Why large states liked it

Large states supported the Virginia Plan because:

  1. More people = more seats
    • Representation tied to population meant large states would get more members in the national legislature.
  2. Greater influence over national policy
    • With more representatives, big states could better shape laws on trade, taxation, and defense.
  3. Seen as more “democratic”
    • Many delegates from large states argued it was fairer in a republic for political power to track population.

Who mostly opposed it (for contrast)

To see the pattern clearly, it helps to note who opposed the Virginia Plan:

  • Smaller states such as New Jersey and Delaware feared losing influence if representation depended on population.
  • These states backed the New Jersey Plan , which kept one state–one vote regardless of size.

Quick recap for your question

So, when asked “what are examples of states that would support the Virginia Plan?”, a solid answer is:

States like Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and (at key moments) Connecticut are good examples of states that supported the Virginia Plan, because they were larger and benefited from representation based on population.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.