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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Edmund Randolph present to the delegates?
(a) The Virginia Plan.
(b) The New Jersey Plan.
(c) The Great Compromise.
(d) Articles of Confederation.

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

3. 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 limit the influence of the executive.
(c) They thought it would make for debate that is more dignified.
(d) They thought it would give the large states fair representation.

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

5. What thoughts did Mr. Madison express on the topic of elections during debate at the convention?
(a) He said that elections are too important to trust to the people.
(b) He said that elections are essential for free government.
(c) He said that elections are a step in dissolving government.
(d) He said that elections could be bought too easily to be trusted.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where should budget bills start, according to the compromise?

2. What did the New Jersey Plan allow the federal government to do?

3. Which form of government includes a king whose powers are limited by a statement of the laws?

4. What did James Madison recommend for the appointment of Supreme Court Justices?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways were delegates afraid of executive power?

2. What did delegates fear in the federal government's ability to veto state laws?

3. What was the benefit of the proposal to elect representatives in the state legislatures?

4. Why was democracy unpopular?

5. Why did Benjamin Franklin believe that government officers should not receive salaries?

6. What was the Virginia Plan?

7. Describe George Mason's speech regarding the question of a single or plural executive.

8. What were some positions delegates took on the New Jersey Plan?

9. What was Alexander Hamilton's argument about the need for a central government?

10. What did delegates discuss regarding the appointment of judges?

(see the answer keys)

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