Constitution Quiz
1) The conflict between the large states and the small states in the crafting of the Constitution centered on
A) whether judges should be chosen by popular vote.
B) whether there should be a monarchy or a presidency.
C) deciding how to count the votes of slaves in national, federal elections.
D) how best to represent the interests of the people and the states in the legislature.
2) Which viewpoint MOST ACCURATELY describes the view of humankind held by the Founding
Fathers who wrote our Constitution?
A) People of average or below average intelligence should never be legally allowed to govern themselves.
B) People are not capable of governing themselves and should be ruled by the most capable who have risen in
society.
C) People need a government that will keep the various factions in balance while giving ultimate authority to
the people.
D) People are basically good and can be trusted to treat their fellow humans fairly and therefore need little
government at all.
3) How did the Federalists convince the Anti-Federalists to ratify the United States constitution?
A) The Federalists promised to add a bill of rights.
B) All trading ties to England and France were broken.
C) State governments would equal the federal government.
D) The Anti-Federalists would select the first president.
4) The Federalist Papers were written to encourage
A) the adoption of the Bill of Rights.
B) the ratification of the Constitution.
C) delegates in Philadelphia to write a new constitution.
D) states to send delegates to the Philadelphia Convention.
"The Sovereign, having no force other than the legislative power, acts only by means of the laws; and the
laws being solely the authentic acts of the general will, the Sovereign cannot act save when the people are
assembled."
--Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Of The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right, 1762.
5) Which concept is central both to the Declaration of Independence and to Social Contract Theory?
A) the authority of the government to create a militia to defend its citizens
B) the authority of the government should be based on the "Divine Right of Kings"
C) the authority of the government should be derived from the consent of the governed
D) the right of the government to trade freely and enter into alliances with other nations
6) One of the major conflicts between northern and southern states in the writing of the new Constitution
centered on
A) whom would be allowed to vote.
B) how best to choose the President.
C) how to count slaves in the census.
D) the western boundary of the United States.
7) Historians often praise Thomas Jefferson for incorporating the Enlightenment into the Declaration of
Independence. Which of these BEST explains why this can be said?
A) there is evidence that it was written in France
B) it was written in the middle of the 18th Century
C) the philosophies of John Locke and Montesquieu are used
D) it contains many references to "Nature's God" and religion
8) Those who supported adoption of the Constitution were called
A) Abolitionists
B) Democrats
C) Federalists
D) Republicans
9) Why did the Anti-Federalists push for the addition to a Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution?
A) there was a precedent set for doing so in Great Britain's Constitution
B) they believed the government needed protection from possible uprisings
C) they believed the people's liberties needed protection from the government
D) there was already a requirement to do so, but the Federalists were ignoring it
10) The Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise both dealt with
A) the admission of new western states.
B) the territorial expansion of slavery.
C) the regulation of interstate commerce.
D) the representation of states in Congress.
11) The Magna Carta was important because it
A) Was America’s first legislature
B) Separated church and state
C) Established a limited government
D) Gave power to the colonies
12) This man wrote the Two Treatises of Government which influenced the writers of our constitution
A)
B)
C)
D)
Benjamin Franklin
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
baron de Montesquieu