CONSTITUTION 101
Module 3: Road to the Convention
3.7 Test Your Knowledge
THE ROAD TO THE CONVENTION
Complete the questions in the following quiz to test your knowledge of basic ideas and concepts
covered in this module.
___________
1. The Founders were students of this European intellectual movement, which began in the
1600s and celebrated the ideas of reason.
a. The Reformation
b. The Crusades
c. The Enlightenment
d. The French Revolution
2. During which year did the Constitutional Convention occur in Philadelphia?
a. 1765
b. 1776
c. 1781
d. 1787
3. Between the Declaration of Independence and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution,
Americans were governed by ____________ at the national level and __________ at
the state level.
a. The English King, British Redcoats
b. The Articles of Confederation, state constitutions
c. Their French Allies, French soldiers
d. The president of the United States, governors
4. With the U.S. Constitution, the Founding generation sought to establish a new national
government that could ____________.
a. Achieve common purposes
b. Guard against mob violence
c. Still be restrained enough to protect individual liberty
d. All of the above
5. Which of these was a problem that existed under the Articles of Confederation?
a. There was no ability to raise taxes to pay soldiers.
b. The national government had no ability to regulate interstate commerce.
c. The Articles were nearly impossible to amend.
d. All of the above
CONSTITUTION 101
Module 3: Road to the Convention
3.7 Test Your Knowledge
6. What was required to pass an amendment to the Articles of Confederation?
a. Unanimous consent from the states
b. A majority of votes from the Confederation Congress
c. A direct order from the president of the United States
d. Three-fourths of the states had to ratify it
7. Why did the founders create a weak central government under the Articles of
Confederation?
a. They distrusted too much power in the central government.
b. They wanted to preserve the sovereignty of the states.
c. Both A and B
d. They secretly hoped the revolution would fail.
8. Which of these was not true about the Pennsylvania state constitution?
a. It had a unicameral (one house) legislature.
b. It had a bicameral (two house) legislature.
c. It had no single executive.
d. It began printing money that led to inflation.
9. What was Shays’ Rebellion?
a. An outbreak of farmers and war veterans in Massachusetts who couldn’t pay
their debts
b. A rebellion of loyalists who wanted to return to British rule
c. The first battle of the Revolutionary War
d. An anti-slavery uprising
10. According to Washington’s letter to Henry Knox, if the government in Massachusetts was
unable to enforce its laws, what would happen?
a. Peace and prosperity
b. Anarchy and confusion
c. Large payments to the soldiers
d. Nothing of any importance
11. What was true of Thomas Jefferson’s letter to James Madison in 1787?
a. He calculated that at that rate, states would experience a rebellion every year.
b. He was a friend of a very energetic government.
c. He thought people should be more alarmed at the rebellion.
d. He thought the rebellion gave more alarm than it should have.
12. There was a failed attempt at a Constitutional Convention in Annapolis, Maryland, in
1786. Which of these factors do you think was a reason why the convention didn’t work?
a. Famous founders like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were not
present.
CONSTITUTION 101
Module 3: Road to the Convention
3.7 Test Your Knowledge
b. Many states refused to send delegates, including the host state Maryland.
c. Americans were still wary of stronger central government.
d. All of the above
13. Which of these is an accurate representation of the Articles of Confederation?
a. A strong central government with regulatory power over the states
b. A balanced government divided into three equal branches
c. A loose league of friendship with very little power over the states
d. An oppressive government headed by a single dictator
14. Which founder spent the summer before the Constitutional Convention reading books on
past governments and preparing a blueprint to present at the Constitutional Convention?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. James Madison
c. John Adams
d. Samuel Adams
15. What was James Madison’s definition of a faction?
a. Any group animated by passion and self-interest rather than reason and the
common good
b. A well-organized political party with regular elections
c. A government whose members supported a king
d. A mathematical term
16. James Madison wrote about his fears of mobs and factions in this literary work:
a. The Declaration of Independence
b. The Virginia Bill of Rights
c. The Federalist Papers
d. The Articles of Confederation
17. The goals of the founders at the Constitutional Convention could be best described by
which three ideals?
a. Power, discipline, tyranny
b. Strength, restraint, deliberation
c. Popular sovereignty, weak central government, mob rule
d. Monarchy, rule by few, separation of powers
18. James Madison believed that America’s vast geography and large population
____________.
a. Would prevent passionate mobs from mobilizing
b. Could never support any kind of republican government
c. Was too vast for people to know what type of government they had
d. Would be too easily controlled by demagogues
CONSTITUTION 101
Module 3: Road to the Convention
3.7 Test Your Knowledge
19. What was the stated purpose of the Constitutional Convention, agreed to on February
21, 1787?
a. Creating a brand-new form of government
b. Revising the Articles (of Confederation)
c. Reinstating the British Monarch
d. Making George Washington king of America
20. Which of these founders was not an author of the Federalist Papers?
a. James Madison
b. John Jay
c. Alexander Hamilton
d. George Mason
CONSTITUTION 101
Module 3: Road to the Convention
3.7 Test Your Knowledge
Answer Key
1. C
2. D
3. B
4. D
5. D
6. A
7. C
8. B
9. A
10. B
11. D
12. D
13. C
14. B
15. A
16. C
17. B
18. A
19. B
20. D
