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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does New Hampshire delay in sending delegates to the Convention?
(a) There is no money in the treasury to pay expenses.
(b) There are no delegates elected until after the Convention begins.
(c) The state government does not agree with the premises of the Convention.
(d) The delegates are all participating in the Congressional session.

2. What is Jefferson's position regarding Shay's Rebellion?
(a) Jefferson argues that the principles of Shay's Rebellion are used to write the Constitution.
(b) Jefferson supports the spirit of resistance to government demonstrated by the rebels.
(c) Jefferson remains neutral about the events labeled as Shay's Rebellion.
(d) Jefferson condemns the rebels for acting against the government.

3. Why is Thomas Jefferson absent from the Convention?
(a) He does not want to leave his farm in Virginia.
(b) He is in Paris arranging treaties and dealing with foreign governments.
(c) He is in London arranging treaties and dealing with foreign governments.
(d) He is in New York, meeting with Congress.

4. What is the significance of May 25th?
(a) That is the day George Washington arrives.
(b) That is the day the Virginia Resolves are presented.
(c) That is the day the delegates from Virginia arrive.
(d) That is the day the Convention officially opens.

5. Why is indigence a bad word for most delegates to the Convention?
(a) The delegates are fearful of becoming poor themselves.
(b) The delegates believe that the indigent population rebels against their decisions at any moment.
(c) The delegates are concerned that European countries realize the states need assistance in paying off their debts.
(d) The delegates associate poverty with laziness.

6. Which delegate is credited with being the strongest influence on the creation of the 1787 Convention?
(a) John Adams.
(b) Patrick Henry.
(c) Alexander Hamilton.
(d) Rufus King.

7. What motion does the Committee of the Whole approve before they adjourn on the last day of May?
(a) The motion that the national legislature should have three branches.
(b) The motion that the President should be elected for life.
(c) The motion that the national legislature should have two branches.
(d) The motion that the President should be elected by popular vote.

8. What is the Society of the Cincinnati?
(a) A group of officers who serve in the Revolutionary War.
(b) A group of military men who want to maintain the federal government.
(c) A group of men who want to change the Articles of Confederation.
(d) A group of delegates who serve in the Continental Congress.

9. In Chapter Eight, what startling statement is attributed to Franklin?
(a) That he is not opposed to giving part of Pennsylvania to New Jersey or Delaware to make the states more equal in size.
(b) That suffrage in the House is according to the free population of a state.
(c) That blacks remain property in the South.
(d) That each state has one vote in the Senate.

10. When they arrive, what is the most immediate problem for convention delegates?
(a) Electing a President.
(b) Personal funding, because city life is expensive.
(c) Finding a place to stay, because Philadelphia is very crowded.
(d) Earning re-election in their home districts.

11. What do the Virginia delegates do before a quorum of states arrive?
(a) The delegates craft a new Constitution for the United States.
(b) The delegates draft 15 Articles of Confederation detailing a plan for government.
(c) The delegates write 15 Resolves detailing a plan for government.
(d) The delegates meet with delegates from other states to establish a common ground.

12. How does Rutledge and Butler believe representation is determined?
(a) By the number of babies born each year.
(b) By the number of citizens living within each state.
(c) By the physical area of the state, including parts of the Western Territory.
(d) By the amount of taxes paid to the National treasury.

13. What term do Americans use to describe the process of clearing the land of trees?
(a) Grubbing.
(b) Relishing.
(c) Clearing.
(d) Cutting.

14. In Chapter 10, the delegates vote that senators are chosen by whom?
(a) State legislatures.
(b) Members of Congress.
(c) Citizens in a popular vote.
(d) The Chief Executive.

15. What is the ever-present danger delegates do not discuss?
(a) None of the New York delegates return once they leave.
(b) The choice of a single executive reminding people of the British monarchy.
(c) The Convention dissolving and the project being abandoned.
(d) There is never a quorum of delegates.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Dr. Franklin arrive at the State House?

2. What does Madison consider "a clear principle of free government"?

3. Which delegate is Washington's neighbor on the Potomac?

4. In 1787, which American City still shows the effects of the Revolutionary War?

5. Who is elected secretary of the Convention?

(see the answer keys)

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