Chapter 9 Multiple Choice questions
Questions 1-4 refer to the following quotation:
The State government will have the advantage of the Federal government, whether we compare
them in respect to the immediate dependence of the one on the other; to the weight of personal
influence which each side will possess; to the powers respectively vested in them; to the
predilection and probable support of the people; to the disposition and faculty of resisting and
frustrating the measures of each other. The State governments may be regarded as constituent
and essential parts of the federal government; whilst the latter is nowise essential to the
operation or organization of the former. Without the intervention of the State legislatures, the
President of the United States cannot be elected at all. They must in all cases have a great share
in his appointment, and will, perhaps, in most cases, of themselves determine it. The Senate will
be elected absolutely and exclusively by the State legislatures. Even the House of
Representatives, though drawn immediately from the people, will be chosen very much under
the influence of that class of men, whose influence over the people obtains for themselves an
election into the State legislatures. Thus, each of the principal branches of the federal
government will owe its existence more or less to the favor of the State governments, and must
consequently feel a dependence, which is much more likely to beget a disposition too
obsequious than too overbearing towards them. On the other side, the component parts of the
State governments will in no instance be indebted for their appointment to the direct agency of
the federal government, and very little, if at all, to the local influence of its members.
--James Madison, Federalist No. 45, 1787
1. Based on the above passage, how did the government created by the Constitution differ
from the one that existed under the Articles of Confederation?
A) Under the Constitution the state governments would dominate the national
government, reversing what was established by the Articles of Confederation
B) The Constitution created an all-encompassing national government that would have
the power to determine daily life in the states
C) The government under the Constitution would be run by elite members of society,
who had little power under the Articles of Confederation
D) The Constitution established a system of federalism wherein the national and state
governments would share power, as opposed to the weak, ineffective national government
under the Articles of Confederation
2. What conclusion can be drawn about the government in the United States after the
ratification of the Constitution based on James Madison’s description in the passage?
A) The creation of a more effective government strengthened the nation internally and
in its dealings with other nations
B) The state and national governments remained in balance, with neither overpowering
the other under any circumstances
C) The idea of the elite holding power proved to be a misconception in the largely
agrarian United States
D) Larger states found themselves overpowered by smaller states because of the equal
distribution of power between them
3. Based on the quote, what was one significant result of the government created by
Constitution?
A) The United States prevented another war with Great Britain
B) Sectional tensions decreased
C) George Washington became the first leader of the nation
D) Political parties developed in the United States
4. Based on the passage above, why was maintaining state power a major concern for many
Americans in the eighteenth century?
A) States had their own identities, laws, and cultures and did not want to see them
abridged
B) Northerners feared the power of the state could bring an end to slavery
C) Smaller states worried that equal representation would curtail their say in national
matters
D) State leaders were concerned about maintaining individual rights for all people
Questions 5-7 refer to the following quotation:
“The movement for the Constitution of the United States was originated and carried
through principally by four groups of personal interests which had been adversely affected
under the Articles of Confederation: money, public securities, manufactures, and trade and
shipping. A large propertyless mass was excluded at the outset from participation in the work
of framing the Constitution.
The members of the Philadelphia Convention which drafted the Constitution were, with
a few exceptions, immediately, directly, and personally interested in, and derived economic
advantages from, the establishment of the new system. The Constitution was essentially an
economic document based on the concept that the fundamental private rights of property are
anterior to government and morally beyond the reach of popular majorities”.
--Charles Beard, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, 1956
5. Based on Beard’s quote, how did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention create a
document that benefited themselves?
A) The majority of the Framers were wealthy professionals and landowners, and the
Constitution therefore protected their personal interests
B) Most of the delegates were bankers and industrialists who needed their stake in the
national economy protected
C) The Framers were concerned that the new government would seize their property
and took steps to prevent that.
D) The Constitution created a caste system led by a powerful and wealthy aristocracy
6. Which aspect of the Constitution might one cite to contradict Beard’s argument?
A) The Electoral College
B) Congress’ power to tax
C) The supremacy clause
D) The Bill of Rights
7. Why might abolitionists have agreed with Beard’s ideas on the Constitution?
A) Many were not among the elite and were therefore left out of the convention and
ratification process
B) Abolitionists believed that the national government would be too dominated by
northern financial interests
C) Several provisions of the Constitution, according to many abolitionists, favored the
property rights of slave owners over the individual rights of men.
D) The Constitution was written with westward expansion in mind, which included the
expansion of slavery