Chapter 2 Quiz

Twelve multiple-choice questions and four short-answer questions. Complete the quiz before checking the answers at the end. The short-answer questions are designed to take 3–5 minutes each and to test your ability to articulate the chapter's arguments in your own words. Multiple-choice questions test recognition of definitions, attributions, and specific arguments.

Multiple-choice (12 questions)

1. The Federalist Papers were written under the pseudonym "Publius" by:

a) Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison b) Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay c) Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison d) John Jay, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson

2. In Federalist No. 10, Madison argues that the most common and durable source of faction is:

a) Religious disagreement b) Sectional rivalry between North and South c) Differences in the talents and faculties of men, especially as they affect the unequal distribution of property d) Personal ambition among elected officials

3. The Connecticut Compromise resolved the dispute between large and small states by:

a) Apportioning both chambers of Congress by population b) Creating a unicameral legislature with one vote per state c) Apportioning the House by population and the Senate equally by state d) Requiring a supermajority in both chambers for any major legislation

4. The three-fifths clause:

a) Counted enslaved persons as three-fifths of a person for representation and direct taxation b) Required that three-fifths of states ratify any constitutional amendment c) Was added by the Bill of Rights in 1791 d) Was struck down by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954

5. Madison's argument in Federalist No. 10 for an extended (large) republic cuts against the older republican tradition because older republican theory held that:

a) Republics required a hereditary aristocracy b) Republics could only function in small, homogeneous societies c) Republics needed a state religion d) Republics required a strong executive

6. "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" appears in:

a) Federalist No. 10 b) Federalist No. 51 c) Federalist No. 78 d) The Declaration of Independence

7. Hamilton's phrase "the least dangerous branch," referring to the federal judiciary, comes from:

a) Federalist No. 78 b) Marbury v. Madison c) McCulloch v. Maryland d) The Northwest Ordinance

8. The most important institutional consequence of Anti-Federalist pressure was:

a) The creation of the Electoral College b) The Bill of Rights c) The Supremacy Clause d) The three-fifths clause

9. Brutus's principal worry about the federal judiciary was that:

a) Federal judges would not be qualified to interpret the Constitution b) Federal judges, with life tenure interpreting vague constitutional language, would gradually expand federal power and become unaccountable c) Federal courts would side with state legislatures against Congress d) Federal judges would refuse to hear cases involving slavery

10. Originalism is best described as the view that:

a) The Constitution's meaning is fixed at ratification and changes only through formal amendment b) The Constitution should be interpreted to maximize liberty c) The Supreme Court should defer to Congress on all constitutional questions d) Each generation must reinterpret the Constitution to fit its own values

11. Living constitutionalism is best described as the view that:

a) The Constitution should be replaced through a new convention every fifty years b) Constitutional principles must be applied to new conditions in ways that go beyond what the Founders specifically intended c) The Constitution authorizes any policy supported by a majority of voters d) Federal judges should not have life tenure

12. John Locke's most important contribution to the political theory of the American founding was the argument that:

a) Republics require a strong executive b) Government rests on the consent of the governed and exists to protect natural rights c) Slavery is incompatible with natural law d) A bicameral legislature is essential to liberty

Short-answer questions (4 questions)

S1. In 150–250 words, explain why Madison argues that a large republic is better than a small one at controlling the mischiefs of faction. What is the underlying mechanism, and why was the argument counterintuitive in 1787?

S2. In 150–250 words, summarize Brutus's argument about the federal judiciary. Which of his predictions, in your judgment, has been most strikingly borne out by subsequent constitutional history? Briefly justify your choice.

S3. In 200–300 words, identify three specific places in the original Constitution (before the amendments) where slavery is accommodated. Quote the relevant constitutional language. Then explain why the Constitution's authors used circumlocutions ("such Persons," "those bound to Service") rather than the word "slave."

S4. In 200–300 words, present the strongest case for one of the three positions on contemporary constitutional interpretation: originalism, living constitutionalism, or institutional reformism. Then identify the strongest objection to the position you chose, and (briefly) how a defender would respond. Honesty is graded — do not attack a straw man.

Answer key (multiple-choice)

  1. b — Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. Jay wrote only five of the eighty-five papers; Hamilton wrote roughly fifty-one; Madison roughly twenty-nine.

  2. c — The unequal distribution of property. Madison's specific phrase is that "the various and unequal distribution of property" is "the most common and durable source of factions."

  3. c — House by population, Senate equally by state. Adopted July 16, 1787, by a one-vote margin.

  4. a — Article I, Section 2: enslaved persons counted as three-fifths of a person for both representation and direct taxation.

  5. b — Older republican theory, especially as inherited from Montesquieu, insisted that republics had to be small. Madison turned this on its head.

  6. b — Federalist No. 51. The full passage discusses the personal motives of officeholders to defend their institution's prerogatives.

  7. a — Federalist No. 78. The full phrase characterizes the judiciary as having "neither force nor will, but merely judgment."

  8. b — The Bill of Rights. Anti-Federalists made textual rights protections a precondition of ratification in several states. Madison drafted and shepherded the first ten amendments through the First Congress.

  9. b — Brutus warned that federal judges with life tenure interpreting vague constitutional language would "mould the government, into almost any shape they please."

  10. a — Originalism in its modern form holds that the Constitution's meaning is its original public meaning, fixed at ratification and changeable only through Article V amendment.

  11. b — Living constitutionalism holds that constitutional principles, while authoritative, must be applied to new conditions through interpretive work that goes beyond what the Founders specifically envisioned.

  12. b — Locke's Second Treatise argued that government exists to protect natural rights (life, liberty, property) and rests on the consent of the governed. Jefferson translated this directly into the Declaration of Independence.

Self-grading notes for short-answer questions

  • S1 strong responses identify both elements of Madison's argument: (a) larger republic, larger pool of representatives, higher chance of merit, and (b) larger republic, more diverse factions, harder for any single faction to become a majority. The counterintuitive element is that older theory said republics needed to be small.
  • S2 strong responses cite Brutus's arguments about life tenure, the vagueness of constitutional language, and the inherent tendency of federal courts to expand federal power. Defensible "predictions borne out" choices include the expansion of federal power through Commerce Clause jurisprudence, the Marbury establishment of judicial review, and the modern Court's role in deciding contested social questions.
  • S3 strong responses identify the three-fifths clause (Article I, Section 2), the slave-trade clause (Article I, Section 9), and the fugitive-slave clause (Article IV, Section 2). The use of circumlocution reflected the framers' awareness that the language of slavery was incompatible with the document's broader rhetoric of liberty — moral discomfort registered in linguistic evasion.
  • S4 is graded on the strength of the steel-manning. A response that picks originalism but caricatures it ("originalists just want to take us back to 1787") receives less credit than a response that picks living constitutionalism and articulates the originalist objection charitably.