Constitution Quiz 1

Question 1

What are the 8 weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 1

No chief executive, the government couldn’t tax people directly, the government couldn’t force people to pay debts, there was no Supreme Court, the government couldn’t settle disputes between states, laws needed to be approved by 9 out of the 13 states, and changes to the Articles of Confederation needed to be approved by all of the states. The government couldn’t draft an army.

Question 2

What was the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 2

The first written document that stated the original US government’s powers.

Question 3

What was the Land Ordinance of 1785?

Answer 3

It was a law that divided the land fairly among the people. The issue with this law, was that it was hard to tell who claimed the land first.

Question 4

What was the northwest territory?

Answer 4

The area given to US in the treaty of Paris.

Question 5

What was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

Answer 5

A set of laws that stated the following: when a territory has 5,000 free adult males it can elect it’s own legislature, when the population reached 60,000 the territory could apply to become a state, settlers had the same rights as citizens, and slavery was banned.

Question 6

What happened in Shay’s rebellion?

Answer 6

Farmers couldn’t earn enough money to pay off their taxes. Judges told them to sell their land and livestock. They were very angry about this and formed a riot. They were led by Daniel Shays and rebelled against the government. When they did so, they took the weapons that the government had. Congress was unable to stop them because, under the Articles of Conferation, they couldn’t draft an army.

Question 7

What did Shay’s rebellion prove about the Articles of Confederation.

Answer 7

It proved that there were many problems that needed to be revised. To revise them, a conference was held.

Question 8

What influence did Ancient Greece have on the Constitution?

Answer 8

Greece came up with the idea of democracy; government by the people. This meant that people elect leaders to serve in the government. They also invented citizenship. According to the Ancient Greeks, only men who owned large plots of men could be citizens.

Question 9

What influence did Ancient Rome have on the Constitution?

Answer 9

The Ancient Romans came up with republics. A republic is a system of government in which people elect representatives to govern them.

Question 10

What was the Magna Carta and what influence did it have on the Constitution?

Answer 10

The Magna Carta was a written document from England that was signed by King John in 1215. It limited the king’s power and said the rights of kings and lords, but didn’t protect most of the English people. It was nicknamed the Great Charter and was a written guarantee of traditional rights and privileges. It also stated that there was no taxing without the consent of the Great Council, and no free person could go to jail without a trial by jury.

Question 11

What influence did Jean Jacques Rousseau have on the Constitution?

Answer 11

He thought of a social contract; a contract that made sure that people would do things for each other, not for the ruler. It also made sure that people would give up some freedom for the needs of the greater good.

Question 12

What influence did John Locke have on the Constitution?

Answer 12

John Locke was an English political philosopher who believed in the inalienable rights and came up with the contract theory. The inalienable rights were life, liberty, and property. The contract theory was that the government is an agreement between the ruler and the ruled, and that governments can only rule with the consent of the governed.

Question 13

What influence did Baron de Montesquieu have on the Constitution?

Answer 13

He wanted to limit the government’s powers by dividing power among a number of authorities. It was a system of checks and balances.

Question 14

What was the original purpose of the Constitutional Convention?

Answer 14

To revise the Articles of Confederation and create a strong national government.

Question 15

Who was the president of the convention?

Answer 15

George Washington

Question 16

Who was the “father” of the convention?

Answer 16

James Madison

Question 17

What did Alexander Hamilton believe about the convention?

Answer 17

He believed that if the convention created a strong national government, it would benefit the country greatly.

Question 18

Who were some of the important leaders that didn’t attend the convention?

Answer 18

Some leaders didn’t attend the convention. This included all of the delegates from Rhode Island. They didn’t attend because they thought that the conference would make the federal government to powerful, making state governments weak.

Question 19

How many branches of government were there in the Virginia plan? What were they?

Answer 19

There were 3: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Question 20

How was the Legislature organized in the Virginia plan?

Answer 20

It was organized in 2 houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of representatives a state had were larger if their population was larger, and smaller if their population was smaller.

Question 21

Which states did the Virginia plan’s Legislature favor?

Answer 21

It favored the larger states. This was because larger states had a larger population, thus more say in the government.

Question 22

How many branches of government were there in the New Jersey plan? What were they?

Answer 22

There were 3: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Question 23

How was the Legislature organized in the New Jersey Plan?

Answer 23

There was 1 house only and each state got 1 representative no matter how big it’s size or population.

Question 24

Which states did the New Jersey plan favor?

Answer 24

It favored the smaller states because it meant that they’d have a greater say in government than they would if the larger states had more representatives than them.

Question 25

Who proposed the Virginia plan?

Answer 25

Edmund Randolph

Question 26

Who proposed the New Jersey plan?

Answer 26

William Patterson

Question 27

How many branches of government were there in the Great Compromise?

Answer 27

There were 3: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Question 28

How was the Legislature organized?

Answer 28

There were 2 houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives allowed states to elect delegates based off their population, and in the Senate each state was allowed 1 representative.

Question 29

Who proposed the Great Compromise?

Answer 29

Roger Sherman

Question 30

What was the 3/5 compromise? What did it say about slavery?

Answer 30

Another problem discussed at the conference was wether or not slaves were to be counted as part of the population for the states in the House of Representatives. The south claimed that the slaves are people and therefore residents and should be counted, while the north claimed that they’re treated as property and they’re not citizens, so they shouldn’t be counted. The 3/5 Compromise stated that 3/5 of slaves would be counted as part of the population.

Question 31

How many states had to approve of the Constitution for it to be ratified?

Answer 31

9/13 states had to approve. This was a compromise from 7/13 and 13/13.

Question 32

How would the Constitution be ratified by the states?

Answer 32

In conventions in each state. Delegates were there. They were elected by the people.

Question 33

What did Federalists believe?

Answer 33

The Federalists were the supporters of the Constitution. They believed that the Constitution would make a strong national government that would make the country one.

Question 34

What were the Federalist Papers?

Answer 34

A series of written documents made by some of the important Federalists. They explained that the government wasn’t overpowered because the power was split among 3 branches of government. It also explained that the problems in the Articles of Confederation were fixed in the Constitution.

Question 35

Who were some important Federalists?

Answer 35

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

Question 36

What did the Anti-Federalists believe?

Answer 36

They believed that Congress would burden everyone with taxes, the Judicial Branch would overpower state courts, the Constitution didn’t list the people’s rights but it did list the government’s powers, and they believed giving up state power was a bad thing.