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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. What was cut out when the Constitutional Convention doted down part of the Virginia Plan?

2. What did James Madison argue during the argument over representation by person or by state?

3. What did the Southern economy rely on at the time of the constitutional convention?

4. Where did Mr. Gerry think the country's current troubles came from?

5. What power was missing from the Articles?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe the delegates' reaction to the New Jersey Plan.

4. What role did Alexander Hamilton see for a strong federal government?

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

6. What problems were Americans having with the Articles of Confederation?

7. Why did James Madison argue against the New Jersey Plan?

8. What was the Virginia Plan?

9. Name three or more delegates and describe their attitudes toward popular rule.

10. What was the Great Compromise?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the paradox that a government needs to be strong in order to protect the people from the government itself. How was this notion handled by the delegates at the Constitutional Convention? What allowances were made so that the government was neither too strong nor too weak? What allowances were made to protect individual freedom?

Essay Topic 2

How did the Constitutional Convention protect states' rights? Discuss three issues as evidence of the Constitutional Convention's protection of the states.

Essay Topic 3

How did the Constitution change between its first draft after being compiled, and the final draft that was ratified by the states?

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