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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How much of the Virginia Plan was accepted?
(a) None of it.
(b) A few key provisions.
(c) Most of it.
(d) All of it.

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

3. What kind of political thought was flourishing in the 1770s in America?
(a) Aristocratic political thought.
(b) Practical political thought.
(c) Conservative political thought.
(d) Radical political thought.

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

5. What did Madison say the country needed, in his letter to George Washington?
(a) Short presidential terms.
(b) A central coordinating committee.
(c) A charismatic leader.
(d) A dispassionate umpire.

6. What thoughts did Mr. Wilson express at the convention?
(a) Popular election will debase public discourse.
(b) Popular election will allow the people to mislead each other.
(c) Popular election will give people confidence in the government.
(d) Popular election will lead to a tyranny of the masses.

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

8. What position did "Publius" advocate?
(a) Defending the new Constitution.
(b) Proposing an alternative to the Constitution.
(c) Arguing against ratification of the Constitution.
(d) Attacking the new Constitution.

9. What was cut out when the Constitutional Convention doted down part of the Virginia Plan?
(a) Congress's ability to vote down state laws.
(b) Congress's ability to regulate interstate trade.
(c) Congress's ability to impose state taxes.
(d) Congress's ability to declare war.

10. Which form of government includes a king whose powers are limited by a statement of the laws?
(a) Representative democracy.
(b) Republic.
(c) Constitutional monarchy.
(d) Empire.

11. What did Madison stress in his letter to George Washington?
(a) The need for representation by population.
(b) The need for high taxes to pay for federal army and government.
(c) The need for representation by state and region.
(d) The need for restraints on popular sentiment.

12. What was the dominant fear about the executive?
(a) The power to impose taxes.
(b) The power to go to war.
(c) The power to appoint judges.
(d) The power to regulate trade.

13. Where on the political spectrum were Alexander Hamilton's opinions?
(a) Closer to monarchy than democracy.
(b) Closer to anarchy than democracy.
(c) Closer to republicanism than democracy.
(d) Closer to democracy than republicanism.

14. What did James Madison support?
(a) A strong federal government.
(b) A system of checks and balances.
(c) Strong state governments.
(d) A government of businesses.

15. Which form of government includes a representative government without hereditary privilege?
(a) Representative democracy.
(b) Oligarchy.
(c) Republic.
(d) Constitutional monarchy.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which form of government includes direct voting by the people?

2. What was the objection to democracy at the constitutional convention?

3. What was James Madison's feeling about the compromise?

4. What did the delegates argue concerning the question of whether the judiciary should be able to veto legislation?

5. What reason did Mr. Mason give for the view he presented at the convention?

(see the answer keys)

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