The New Jersey Plan was proposed during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as an alternative to the Virginia Plan. It favored a smaller state perspective and advocated for equal representation in Congress regardless of a state’s population size. This would mean that each state, regardless of the number of people living in it, would have an equal vote in the legislative process.
Maryland, along with other smaller states, would likely prefer the New Jersey Plan as it would give them more influence in Congress compared to the Virginia Plan, which was based on population and would dominate representation by larger states.
As for excluding all enslaved people from population counts, smaller states like Maryland would also prefer this approach as it would lessen the population counts of the larger states that held many enslaved individuals, thus reducing their representation in Congress.
Therefore, the state that would prefer both the New Jersey Plan and the exclusion of enslaved people from population counts would be Maryland.
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