U.S. Constitution — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. At the Constitutional Convention, large and small states disagreed about representation. What was the Great Compromise?
A) Each state would have equal votes in both houses of Congress
B) Congress would have two houses — one based on population and one with equal votes per state
C) Only the largest five states would have representatives in Congress
D) The President would decide how many representatives each state would get
The correct answer is B) Congress would have two houses — one based on population and one with equal votes per state. At the Constitutional Convention, large and small states disagreed about representation. What was the Great Compromise — the answer is Congress would have two houses — one based on population and one with equal votes per state.
2. Anti-Federalists opposed ratifying the Constitution. What was their biggest concern?
A) The document was too short and did not cover enough topics
B) It created a central government that was too powerful and lacked a bill of rights
C) It gave too much power to state governments over the national government
D) They wanted a king instead of a President
The correct answer is B) It created a central government that was too powerful and lacked a bill of rights. Anti-Federalists opposed ratifying the Constitution. What was their biggest concern — the answer is It created a central government that was too powerful and lacked a bill of rights.
3. A state passes a law that conflicts with a federal law. According to the Supremacy Clause, what happens?
A) The state law takes effect because states have more power
B) Both laws apply equally within that state
C) The federal law overrides the state law
D) The President must choose which law to follow
The correct answer is C) The federal law overrides the state law. A state passes a law that conflicts with a federal law. According to the Supremacy Clause, what happens — the answer is The federal law overrides the state law.
4. The Preamble lists "establish justice" as a goal. Which part of the government is MOST responsible for this goal?
A) The legislative branch by collecting taxes from citizens
B) The executive branch by signing trade agreements
C) The judicial branch by interpreting laws and hearing court cases
D) The military by protecting borders from invasion
The correct answer is C) The judicial branch by interpreting laws and hearing court cases. The Preamble lists "establish justice" as a goal. Which part of the government is MOST responsible for this goal — the answer is The judicial branch by interpreting laws and hearing court cases.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The Federalist Papers were written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay to support ratification.
John Jay joined Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in writing 85 essays called the Federalist Papers, arguing that the new Constitution would create a stronger, more effective government.
2. The Great Compromise created two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Great Compromise solved the big-state vs. small-state debate by creating two chambers: the Senate gives every state equal votes, while the House of Representatives gives more seats to states with larger populations.
3. Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights before they would support the Constitution.
Anti-Federalists feared the new government could trample individual freedoms, so they refused to support the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was promised to clearly protect liberties like free speech and fair trials.
4. Under federalism, powers not given to the federal government are reserved to the states.
The Tenth Amendment uses the word "reserved" to make clear that any power the Constitution does not specifically hand to the federal government stays with the states or the people.
5. The state of New Hampshire was the ninth to ratify the Constitution, making it official.
New Hampshire cast the decisive ninth vote for ratification on June 21, 1788, meeting the threshold set by Article VII and officially making the Constitution the law of the land.