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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. Which delegate voices a moral defense of slavery?

2. What shocks European visitors to the Southern states?

3. What question surrounds the division of the Western Territories?

4. Who founded the Ohio Company and sells shares to congressmen?

5. What motion does Franklin propose on the final day of the Convention?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why are test oaths an issue for the delegates?

2. What are the arguments presented against including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?

3. What is the Committee of Style and Arrangement?

4. Why is the Northwest Ordinance called the third great document of American history?

5. Why do the delegates vote against adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution?

6. What are James Wilson's arguments in favor of allowing foreign-born Americans to participate in government?

7. What underlying concerns are voiced during the discussion about the seat of a national government?

8. Why is slavery an issue at the Convention?

9. Why is ratification an important issue?

10. What are the differences between living conditions along the Atlantic coastline and in the interior country or back land?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although the Constitution is eventually ratified by all of the states, there is opposition in each state. Write an essay that presents and explains the reasons for opposition to the Constitution presented by the delegates in each of the state conventions. Analyze the validity of their reasoning, placing your analysis in historical context. How do the supporters of the Constitution address these concerns?

Essay Topic 2

Discussions by the Convention delegates reveals clear divisions between the interests of the large states and the interests of the small states. Choose three examples of issues that involve the size of the states. In your essay, describe the issue, the effect the size of a state's population has on the issue, and the ultimate outcome. How does the final Constitution address the conflicting interests between large and small states?

Essay Topic 3

What does it mean to be an American in 1787? The delegates to the Convention address this question in various ways. Using the final Constitution as your guide, with supplementing evidence drawn from other chapters in Bowen's book, write a well-crafted essay that describes the delegates' understanding and perception of who is an American and what it means to be an American.

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