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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which delegate is president of the Illinois-Wabash Land Company?

2. What is the purpose of the Committee of Detail?

3. What issue is most important for the states of Kentucky and Tennessee?

4. Why do delegates to the Massachusetts Convention meet in Boston's Brattle Street Church?

5. Which basic proposition is common to the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Report of the Committee of Detail?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are George Washington and James Wilson connected to the Western Territories?

2. Why is slavery an issue at the Convention?

3. Why is it difficult for the delegates to define treason?

4. What is the Committee of Style and Arrangement?

5. Why is the insertion of the phrase "We the People of the United States" considered to be both a bold move and a smart decision?

6. What arguments do the Anti-federalists use in their opposition to the Constitution?

7. Why is Jonathan Smith's speech powerful?

8. What is Thomas Jefferson's reaction to the Constitution?

9. What is the difference between the British and American views of the farmer during the eighteenth century?

10. What are the arguments presented against including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of the delegates to the Convention are well-known figures from American history. Other delegates, however, are less well-known. Choose three of the delegates listed below and write an essay that presents their contributions to the Convention discussions and the final Constitution.

Examples are:

Rufus King

Elbridge Gerry

Edmund Randolph

Nathaniel Gorham

Pierce Butler

Gouverneur Morris

James Wilson

Essay Topic 2

Where does the power reside in the relationship between the people and the government? In a well-crafted essay, compare the way the Articles of Confederation, the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Constitution all answer that question. What are the reasons for the different responses? How is the final choice for the Constitution made?

Essay Topic 3

Bowen's book is titled "Miracle at Philadelphia", where the "miracle" is the ultimate appearance of the Constitution itself. However, throughout the book, she provides several examples of smaller miracles, significant decisions that lead to the final drafting of the Constitution. Choose three (3) significant decisions that you consider to be miracles and describe the conflict and the outcome, demonstrating how the resolution of the conflict is a miracle.

(see the answer keys)

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