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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many counties did Pennsylvania initially have before the American Constitution was formed?
(a) Ten.
(b) Fourteen.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Eight.

2. Which one of the following was not included in Paine's description of how America was prospering in Of Society and Civilization?
(a) The industry was extensive.
(b) The rich were not privileged.
(c) The poor were not oppressed.
(d) The taxes were low.

3. Considering the point that Paine made in Of Constitutions, what were governments designed to promote under a constitution?
(a) Only the collective good.
(b) Neither the individual nor the collective good.
(c) Only the individual good.
(d) The individual and collective good.

4. What concern did many people in the states have about the newly ratified Constitution?
(a) It would be interpreted literally by the government.
(b) It was too long.
(c) It was too short.
(d) It would be interpreted differently by the government.

5. What was the compact between the people of the United States that Paine mentioned in Of Constitutions?
(a) To create and sustain a philosophy.
(b) To develop a system based on laws.
(c) To develop a system based on taxes.
(d) To create and sustain a government.

6. What style was Part One of Rights of Man written in by Paine?
(a) Traditional.
(b) Popular.
(c) Educational.
(d) Provoking.

7. According to Paine in Of Constitutions, how many representative bodies should a government have?
(a) Three.
(b) Two.
(c) Four.
(d) One.

8. In Paine's opinion, when did a society need government even less?
(a) When it had an effective military.
(b) When it had good moral character.
(c) When it had an established trade agreement.
(d) When it had vast resources.

9. In concluding Of the Old and New Systems of Government, what did Paine state was the basis for free governments?
(a) Neither law nor persons.
(b) Law and persons.
(c) Law, not persons.
(d) Persons, not law.

10. What type of formal government did the frontier areas of America have before the American Revolution?
(a) None.
(b) The same as they did after the Revolution.
(c) Very little.
(d) More than they did after the Revolution.

11. Compared to previous Revolutions, what did Paine think future Revolutions would be like?
(a) Longer.
(b) Shorter.
(c) More expensive.
(d) Less expensive.

12. What two things did Paine think were at the root of old governments in Of the Old and New Systems of Government?
(a) Power and self-promotiion.
(b) Greed and deception.
(c) Power and self-aggrandizement.
(d) Greed and delusion.

13. Using history to support his opinion, what did Paine find unsurprising about how governments began?
(a) They began as robbers.
(b) They began as murderers.
(c) They began in chaos.
(d) They began in ignorance.

14. In Paine's opinion, what did the power of the Peers represent?
(a) Financial devastation.
(b) Political corruption.
(c) Political inequality.
(d) Financial ignorance.

15. As mentioned by Paine in Of the Old and New Systems of Government, which type of monarchy did Abbe Sieyes prefer?
(a) Elective.
(b) Generational.
(c) Selective.
(d) Hereditary.

Short Answer Questions

1. Announcing the arrival of representative government at the end of Ways and Means of Improving the Conditions of Europe, how did Paine advise that future revolution should be contemplated?

2. What type of fighting did Paine think corporate charters produced where they existed?

3. Who did Paine emphasize was the rightful owner of the Constitution?

4. What word did Paine use to describe the English Constitution in Of Constitutions?

5. What idea did Paine think the European government should be constructed on?

(see the answer keys)

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