Constitution
Thinking Points/Questions

1.  What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?
2.  What role did the debt issue play in the decision to meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles?
3.  Why were some of the objections to revising the Articles of Confederation?
4.  What was the Virginia Plan?
5.  What was the New Jersey Plan?
6.  What kind of government did Alexander Hamilton desire?
7.  What was the dispute over the issue of representation, and how was it resolved?
8.  What were the two greatest controversies within the first draft of the Constitution, and how were they resolved (if at all)?
9.  What was the purpose of the electoral college?
10.  After the convention adopted the Constitution, which groups supported it and which did not, and why?
11.  What were The Federalist Papers, and what were some of the arguments they proferred in favor of the Constitution?
12.  What role did the issue of a "bill of rights" play in the ratification process?


This page last updated October 6, 2003, 8 p.m.