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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. Where was the constitutional convention held?

2. What did Paine think should happen to every bill before it was voted on in a representative style of government?

3. Which two functions did Paine outline for governments in Of Constitutions?

4. Why did Paine think the Articles of Confederation was ineffective?

5. According to Paine in Of Constitutions, how many representative bodies should a government have?

Short Essay Questions

1. As discussed in Ways and Means of Improving the Conditions of Europe, what effect would a possible alliance with France have for England?

2. Why did Paine think that natural rights rejected hereditary government?

3. Why did Paine support commerce and universal trade in Ways and Means of Improving the Conditions of Europe?

4. What description of early America did Paine provide in order to prove how a society could maintain itself without government?

5. What was Paine's plan for paying off the national debt in Ways and Means of Improving the Conditions of Europe?

6. How did Paine compare the American Constitution with the constitution of England in Of Constitutions?

7. How did Paine define the old governments and the new governments in Chapter 3?

8. How did Paine end Rights of Man with the optimism of the coming Revolutions and Republics?

9. What was the difference in the opinions of Sieyes and Burke and the monarchies?

10. How was the Constitution passed and what concerns did people have about it at the time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Both Paine and Burke looked at the storming of the Bastille in very different ways.

1) Describe why Burke might have decided to ignore the Bastille and how he briefly referred to it.

2) Explain Paine's opinion of the Bastille and why he considered it to be an important historical event.

3) Analyze whose opinion of the Bastille you think seems the most logical.

Essay Topic 2

Using the information Paine provided in Chapter 2 of Part Two of Rights of Man, compare the origins of the English government with the actions that Paine had observed in the monarchical government. Also, include an analysis of the origin of government in general, the initial intentions of its development and why Paine supported the representative style of government as the best option.

Essay Topic 3

The Miscellaneous Chapter was a collection of Paine's thoughts that he included in a separate section of the book.

1) Describe the reasons Paine had for writing a Miscellaneous Chapter, in literal terms and political.

2) Explain the view of government that Paine depicted in the Miscellaneous Chapter.

3) Analyze the conflict that Paine and Burke had with their views about the ideal government in the Miscellaneous Chapter.

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