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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of representation did James Madison advocate?
(a) Representation by state size.
(b) Representation by state.
(c) Representation by revenue.
(d) Representation by person.

2. What did James Madison argue with relation to the New Jersey Plan?
(a) It cannot settle arguments between the states.
(b) It will give too much power to small states.
(c) It will not protect small states from bigger states.
(d) It cannot support itself with tax revenue.

3. Why did delegates argue for a small senate?
(a) They thought it would give the large states fair representation.
(b) They thought it would limit the influence of the executive.
(c) They thought it would make for debate that is more dignified.
(d) They thought it would make Senators more intimate and therefore more willing to compromise.

4. Who proposed that government officers not receive salaries?
(a) George Washington.
(b) James Madison.
(c) Benjamin Franklin.
(d) Alexander Hamilton.

5. What was James Madison's feeling about the compromise?
(a) He felt that the convention was striking the right balance.
(b) He felt that the convention was sacrificing large states to small states.
(c) He felt that the convention was sacrificing justice for the small states.
(d) He felt that the convention was sacrificing federalism to distributed power.

6. What did Madison and Jefferson want to do about judges?
(a) Review their judgments in the Congress.
(b) Protect them from popular politics.
(c) Subject them to elections.
(d) Allow them independence in their rulings.

7. What was the objection to constitutional monarchy at the constitutional convention?
(a) The Americans' distaste following the war.
(b) The threat of tyranny of the masses.
(c) The threat of mob rule.
(d) The possibility of a runaway executive.

8. What did the delegates argue concerning the question of whether the judiciary should be able to veto legislation?
(a) That the judiciary would become the most powerful branch of government.
(b) That the judiciary would thereby acquire legislative power.
(c) That the executive would be rendered powerless.
(d) That the executive would thereby attain control over the legislature through the judiciary.

9. What plan did James Madison favor?
(a) A federal plan.
(b) An isolationist plan.
(c) A state-centric plan.
(d) A diplomatic plan.

10. What were the delegates' intentions when they argued for election of Senators from state legislatures?
(a) Insulating the federal government from individuals in the states.
(b) Raising the Senate above popular opinion.
(c) Creating a check against popular democracy.
(d) Improving upon the process by which the people were represented.

11. What were Americans and Britons discussing a great deal during the 1770s?
(a) Political thought and theory.
(b) The Massachusetts charter.
(c) Warfare against the Native Americans.
(d) Warfare against the French.

12. What would happen if government officers did not receive salaries, in the opinion of the man who proposed this?
(a) Men who lusted for power and money would not run for office.
(b) Legislators would have to have wealthy patrons.
(c) Men who needed money would be liable to be influenced by special interests.
(d) The government would consist solely of landed gentry.

13. What were Americans concluding by the 1780s?
(a) That mercantile colonialism had been a working model before the revolution.
(b) That the federal executive was too weak.
(c) That representation could have been earned without warfare.
(d) That there was too much power in the federal government.

14. What did Mr. Paterson argue about the New Jersey Plan?
(a) That it diminished the power of the states.
(b) That it did not give the executive too much power.
(c) That it made the federal government too independent.
(d) That it did not protect the states enough.

15. Where do delegates think that authority needs to originate in order to be legitimate?
(a) The landowners.
(b) The merchants.
(c) The poor.
(d) The people.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Randolph argue at the convention?

2. What did George Mason argue in the debate of June 4?

3. What happened to the motion not to give government officers salaries?

4. What was the dominant fear about the executive?

5. What did delegates oppose in the Virginia Plan?

(see the answer keys)

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