Forming a Government

As drafted by the Second Continental Congress the Articles of Confederation established the

• process of electing representatives to the Congress.

• first national government of the United States

• requirements for being president of the Congress.

The Articles of Confederation made it difficult for Congress to protect the nation against foreign threats by

• declaring it impossible to force states to provide soldiers.

• not creating a national budget for defense spending.

• placing high tariffs on imports of military supplies.

Which of these was a weakness in the Articles of Confederation exposed by Shays’s Rebellion?

• the imbalance of power between the three branches of government

• the dominance of an overly powerful executive branch

• the problem of states having more power than the federal government

The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention held in May 1787 in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall was to

• grant citizenship to free African Americans

• draft a Constitution of the United States.

• distribute power equally among the states.

• improve the Articles of Confederation

Women, African Americans, and Native Americans did not take part in the Constitutional Convention because they

• did not have the rights of citizenship.

• opposed expanding the central government

• were protesting against the new constitution.

Under the Virginia Plan the structure of the national government would have been changed by the creation of a/an

• unicameral legislature with an equal number of delegates from each state.

• bicameral legislature in which the number of delegates per state would be based on a states’ population.

• strong judiciary with sovereignty over the other two branches of government

The Great Compromise resolved the debate over state representation in the federal government by

• creating a bicameral legislature

• creating a unicameral legislature.

• deciding individually on the number of delegates each state would have.

Which of the following proposals was part of the New Jersey Plan presented at the Constitutional Convention?

• Individual states would have to raise and fund their own armies.

• Individual states would be responsible for regulating commerce.

• Each state would have an equal voice in a unicameral legislature.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

• freed three-fifths of slaves in the southern states.

• granted three-fifths of freed slaves the right to vote

• determined how many representatives a state would have in the Congress by counting three-fifths of the state’s slave population.

What problem did Antifederalists have with the Constitution?

• They felt that the central government had been given too much power

• They felt that too many rights were guaranteed to individual citizens.

• They felt that merchants were not provided with enough protection