FCLE Articles of Confederation and the Constitutional Convention — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could NOT do which of the following?
- Declare war on foreign nations
- Negotiate treaties with foreign countries
- Levy (collect) taxes directly from citizens (Correct answer)
- Request troops from state militias
Correct answer: Levy (collect) taxes directly from citizens
One of the most critical weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was that Congress had no power to tax citizens directly. It could only request funds from the states, which frequently refused, leaving the national government chronically underfunded and unable to pay war debts.
Question 2: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was originally called to:
- Draft a formal declaration of war against Britain
- Revise and improve the Articles of Confederation (Correct answer)
- Create a Bill of Rights for the new nation
- Elect the first President of the United States
Correct answer: Revise and improve the Articles of Confederation
The Convention was convened in Philadelphia in 1787 with the stated purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. However, delegates quickly concluded that the Articles were too flawed to fix and instead drafted an entirely new Constitution.
Question 3: The Great Compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention resolved a dispute over congressional representation by:
- Giving all legislative power to the President
- Creating a bicameral Congress — equal representation in the Senate, population-based in the House (Correct answer)
- Allowing only property-owning citizens to vote for representatives
- Requiring unanimous state consent to pass any federal law
Correct answer: Creating a bicameral Congress — equal representation in the Senate, population-based in the House
Large states favored the Virginia Plan (representation by population) while small states favored the New Jersey Plan (equal representation). The Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise) created a two-house Congress: the Senate with two senators per state, and the House with seats proportional to population.
Question 4: The Three-Fifths Compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention determined that enslaved people would be counted as:
- Full persons for both taxation and representation purposes
- Not counted at all for any federal purpose
- Three-fifths of a person for both representation and direct taxation (Correct answer)
- Full persons for taxation but not for representation
Correct answer: Three-fifths of a person for both representation and direct taxation
The Three-Fifths Compromise (Article I, Section 2) counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a free person for determining a state's population for both House representation and direct taxation. This increased Southern states' political power while not granting enslaved people any rights.
Question 5: Which of the following was a major weakness of the Articles of Confederation that led to calls for a new Constitution?
- It gave the President too much power to veto state laws
- It allowed the federal government to interfere in state affairs too freely
- It required unanimous consent of all 13 states to amend, making reform nearly impossible (Correct answer)
- It established a federal court system that overruled state courts
Correct answer: It required unanimous consent of all 13 states to amend, making reform nearly impossible
Under the Articles, any amendment required unanimous approval from all 13 states — an impossibly high bar. Combined with the inability to tax, regulate commerce, or enforce laws, the Articles created a weak central government that could not address Shays' Rebellion or economic crises.
Question 6: The document that governed the United States between 1781 and 1789, before the current Constitution took effect, was called:
- The Mayflower Compact
- The Articles of Confederation (Correct answer)
- The Northwest Ordinance
- The Virginia Plan
Correct answer: The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781, served as the first governing document of the United States. It created a loose union of sovereign states with a weak central government that had no executive branch, no federal courts, and no power to tax or regulate commerce.
FCLE Articles of Confederation and the Constitutional Convention
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could NOT do which of the following?