Articles of Confederation and
Constitutional Convention
Test Review
Key
Articles of Confederation
1. What was the Articles of Confederation?
America’s First Constitution, that failed because the
national government was too weak
1. Complete the box below
Weaknesses of the AOC
Strengths of the AOC
• Could not create/collect
•
taxes to pay off debt
• No executive or judicial
•
branch to enforce the laws
• National Government
was too weak, and
•
could not control
violent out breaks and
the economic problems
Peace and unity after
Revolution
Created the Land
Ordinance of 1785 and
the Northwest Territory
Settled Conflicting Land
Claims
Articles of Confederation
3. Explain the Land Ordinance of 1787.
Law that established a procedure for surveying and
selling western lands north of the Ohio River
4. What did the Northwest Ordinance create?
Created the Northwest Territory: Lands north of the
Ohio River and east of the Mississippi river
Articles of Confederation
5. How did a territory become a state?
Lands were
divided into 3-5
smaller
territories
Population
grows to 60,000
people, they
could write a
Constitution
Lands apply for
statehood and
be admitted as a
state
6. Why did people think they needed to change the Articles
of Confederation?
Articles was too weak, and could barely control
Shay’s Rebellion
Constitutional Convention
7. What year was the Constitution signed?
1787
8. What was discussed at the Constitutional Convention?
1. How slaves should be counted in population
2. Number of Representatives in Legislative Branch
3. Powers of the Federal and State government
9.
Who presided over the Constitutional Convention?
George Washington
Constitutional Convention
10. Who was the author of the Great Compromise?
Roger Sherman
11. Who is known as the “Father of the Constitution”?
James Madison
Constitutional Convention
12. Fill out the Chart below:
New Jersey Plan
Virginia Plan
1 house legislature with equal
representation: each state
would get 1 representative
2 House legislature with
proportional representation: each
state would get a certain number of
representatives based of their
population size
Great Compromise
2 House Legislature:
- Senate: Equal Representation
- House of Representative:
Proportional Representation
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Constitutional Convention
13. Explain the 3/5 Compromise.
Each enslaved person would count for 3/5 of a free
person for both taxation and representation
Ratification
14. Fill out the table below:
Federalists
•
•
•
•
G. Washington
Favored the Constitution
J. Madison
Wanted a strong national
government
Anti Federalists
•
•
•
•
•
Opposed the Constitution
Wanted a Bill of Rights
Patrick Henry
George Mason
Disliked a strong federal
government
Constitutional Convention
15. What did Anti Federalists, like George Mason, want
added to the Constitution before they agreed to ratify it?
Bill of Rights
16. Explain the Federalists Papers.
Essays explaining and defending the Constitution,
written to persuade people to accept it
Be sure and study “Map of 1787”
 You need to know:
 13 original states
 New states admitted to the union in the NW
Territory