Quiz: The Federalist

All 50 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. In No. 1, what question does Hamilton say the American people seem to have been reserved to decide?

   Whether a republic can survive without an established church Whether the former colonies should rejoin the British empire if offered seats in Parliament on better terms Whether agriculture or commerce should direct the policy of nations Whether good government can be established by reflection and choice, or must come from accident and force
2. 2. In No. 43, why does Madison defend the federal guarantee against domestic violence?

   State militias were already under federal command in every state of the Union A recent event proved the need; armed minorities can defeat majorities The Articles had a similar clause that worked well during the late disturbances Foreign powers had demanded such a guarantee as a condition of their treaties
3. 3. Which is not one of the ingredients of executive energy listed in No. 70?

   Unity Adequate provision for its support Duration An executive council
4. 4. What does Hamilton identify in No. 15 as the great and radical vice of the Confederation?

   The equal vote of large and small states in Congress, whatever their population Legislation for states as bodies, not for individuals The annual election and recall of delegates to Congress The absence of a separate executive to carry out the laws
5. 5. According to No. 41, who introduced military establishments in time of peace in Europe?

   Frederick the Great of Prussia William III of England Louis XIV of France Charles VII of France
6. 6. How does No. 39 finally characterise the proposed Constitution?

   A mixed monarchy on the British model A purely federal league of sovereign states, much like the old Articles A consolidated national government, as its opponents charged Neither wholly national nor wholly federal, but a composition of both
7. 7. What point does No. 38 make about ancient governments framed with deliberation and consent?

   They were framed by single lawgivers, not assemblies They were imposed by foreign conquerors They were copied from Egyptian models They were framed by elected conventions of the leading citizens
8. 8. In No. 54, how is the Constitution said to treat enslaved people for purposes of apportionment?

   As full persons, counted equally with free inhabitants As inhabitants debased by servitude, counted at three fifths As residents of no state, left out of both representation and taxation As property only, excluded from the census
9. 9. Which historical institution does No. 80 cite as having calmed disputes among members of a confederacy?

   The Imperial Chamber set up by Maximilian in Germany The Amphictyonic council of Greece The States-General of the Netherlands under the stadtholder The Roman Senate
10. 10. What example does Jay give in No. 3 of the humiliating terms imposed on a weak state?

    Holland had to pay an annual tribute to England after losing the second Dutch war Poland had to accept a Russian king Genoa had to send its Doge and four senators to France to ask Louis XIV’s pardon Venice had to surrender its fleet and its Adriatic islands to the Pope and the emperor
11. 11. How does No. 62 describe the equal vote of each state in the Senate?

    As a recognition of the states’ remaining sovereignty and a means of preserving it As a device to protect the large states As an imitation of the British House of Lords As a temporary arrangement meant to last only until the first census had been taken
12. 12. What example does No. 30 give of a government that lacks a regular taxing power?

    The Dutch stadtholder, who must wait on the provinces The Ottoman sultan, who lets provincial governors pillage the people The Venetian doge, whose revenues depend on the merchant nobility The king of Poland, who must beg subsidies from a divided diet
13. 13. What is Hamilton’s basic answer in No. 83 to the claim that the Constitution abolishes civil juries?

    Silence on civil juries is not abolition; Congress may still provide them Civil cases will be heard only by state legislatures The Constitution expressly guarantees civil juries Civil juries were abolished but will be restored by treaty with the states
14. 14. Why does No. 85 argue that amendments will be easier after ratification than before?

    Congress will be eager to give up its own powers once the government is running The Supreme Court may amend the Constitution by interpretation, without any need for state ratification Amendments after ratification will need no approval from the states at all Later amendments need fewer states and can be taken one at a time
15. 15. In No. 12, how many patrols does Hamilton say France employs against smugglers, citing Necker?

    Upwards of a hundred thousand Fewer than two thousand in all Some five hundred in each province Upwards of twenty thousand
16. 16. What does Madison say would still have been true even if every Athenian citizen had been a Socrates?

    Athens would have needed no senate Every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob Athenian assemblies would have chosen wise representatives Athens would never have fallen to Macedon
17. 17. What does No. 73 say the Constitution provides for the President’s compensation?

    It is paid by the states in proportion to population It is set permanently in the Constitution itself at a fixed sum It can be neither increased nor diminished during his term Congress may lower it but not raise it
18. 18. Why does No. 78 call the judiciary the least dangerous branch?

    It has neither sword nor purse, but merely judgment It can be overruled by the President whenever he judges a decision unwise Its judges are elected every two years and so stay close to the people It has no power at all to rule on constitutional questions of any kind
19. 19. How does No. 75 characterise the power of making treaties?

    As a power best exercised by the House of Representatives As a judicial power to be shared with the Supreme Court As a purely executive power belonging to the President alone As more legislative than executive in character, yet a distinct power
20. 20. How many state constitutions, according to No. 24, contained a ban on standing armies in peacetime?

    Seven Two None Eleven
21. 21. Which recent American event does Hamilton cite in No. 6 to show how private circumstances can produce great public events?

    The Vermont secession, driven by Ethan Allen’s land speculation The Massachusetts insurrection, which might not have happened had Shays not been a desperate debtor Rhode Island’s paper-money law of 1786, which he says was passed to relieve one governor’s private debts The mutiny of the Pennsylvania line in 1783, which he traces to a colonel’s private quarrel with Congress
22. 22. What does Madison in No. 10 call the most common and durable source of factions?

    The various and unequal distribution of property Attachment to rival leaders contending for power and pre-eminence Differences of language and custom between regions Zeal for different opinions about religion and government
23. 23. Why does Jay say treaties should not be repealable at pleasure like acts of assembly?

    The Senate cannot repeal its own acts Treaties are approved by the people directly A treaty is a bargain, which only both parties together can alter The law of nations forbids any change to a treaty once it is ratified
24. 24. What does Hamilton in No. 17 call the one “transcendent advantage” that will secure the people’s attachment to the state governments?

    The power to levy taxes on land The appointment of senators The ordinary administration of criminal and civil justice Control over the state militia and the appointment of all its officers
25. 25. What does No. 21 call the most palpable defect of the Confederation it discusses next?

    Congress cannot make treaties Congress has no power to enforce its laws Congress cannot declare war Congress has no power to coin money or regulate its value
26. 26. Who, according to No. 57, are to be the electors of the federal representatives?

    Freeholders owning land worth at least twenty pounds a year in their state The members of the state legislatures The same people who elect the larger branch of each state legislature Electors specially chosen in each county
27. 27. What is Hamilton’s chief complaint against New York’s council of appointment in No. 77?

    It is too large to agree on anything It is elected directly by the people It gives the Assembly a veto over every nomination It acts in secret, so no one can be held responsible for bad appointments
28. 28. In No. 19, what followed when Donauwörth was put under the ban of the empire?

    The Swiss cantons sent troops to defend the city The emperor pardoned the city after it paid a fine The Duke of Bavaria, sent to enforce it, annexed the city to his own domains The city appealed to the imperial chamber, which lifted the ban and restored its rights
29. 29. What safeguard against standing armies does Hamilton find in the Constitution in No. 26?

    Army appropriations limited to two years A cap of 5,000 men in peacetime Election of army officers by the states A two-thirds vote to declare war
30. 30. What does No. 56 say about the British House of Commons?

    Its members are chosen by the House of Lords It has one member for every thousand inhabitants Half its members are elected by fewer than 6,000 persons Every member must live among his constituents
31. 31. To what does No. 22 compare Congress when a few states fail to attend?

    The Roman senate under the emperors A Polish diet, where one veto stops everything The British House of Lords The Amphictyonic council
32. 32. What does Hamilton propose in No. 29 instead of disciplining the whole militia?

    A militia commanded by federal officers and drilled monthly A well-trained select corps of moderate size Universal service for two years Abolishing the militia entirely
33. 33. What reproach does Madison say a senate might have spared the people of Athens?

    Squandering their empire in the expedition to Sicily Submitting meekly to the Thirty Tyrants after the war with Sparta Ostracising their best generals in moments of popular panic Decreeing the hemlock to citizens one day and statues the next
34. 34. What does No. 84 call the prohibition of titles of nobility?

    The corner-stone of republican government A matter best left to the separate states to decide for themselves A needless restriction, since no American would accept a title The bulwark of the British Constitution and its House of Lords
35. 35. According to No. 8, what effect does war have on the structure of government?

    It increases the executive at the expense of the legislative authority It strengthens the legislature, which must vote the supplies and raise the armies It transfers power from the national government to the states It increases the authority of the courts over the military
36. 36. Whose account of the Virginia legislature does No. 48 quote to show legislative encroachment?

    George Mason’s published objections to the proposed Constitution Montesquieu’s chapter on the English constitution Patrick Henry’s speeches in the Virginia convention Thomas Jefferson’s, in the Notes on the State of Virginia
37. 37. In No. 81, why does Hamilton say individuals could not sue a state in federal court for its securities?

    State securities are void under the new Constitution and cannot be enforced anywhere A sovereign cannot be sued without its consent, and enforcement would mean war Only foreign creditors may sue a state The Constitution expressly cancels all state debts
38. 38. What final resource does No. 58 give the House of Representatives against a Senate that resists its enlargement?

    The power to impeach senators A direct referendum of the people in every state of the Union An appeal to the Supreme Court against the Senate’s refusal Its sole power to propose the supplies government needs
39. 39. What does Hamilton call the poet’s maxim “For forms of government let fools contest”?

    A truth for monarchies only The wisest maxim of politics The principle of the convention A political heresy
40. 40. In No. 40, what example justifies letting nine states put the Constitution into effect?

    The refusal of Virginia to attend the Annapolis meeting The Dutch provinces’ habit of acting without unanimity in times of urgent danger Britain’s repeal of the Stamp Act by a parliamentary majority A state with one sixtieth of the people blocking a measure twelve states wanted
41. 41. In No. 46, what would oppose a federal army of twenty-five or thirty thousand men?

    A state-officered militia of nearly half a million citizens The navies of the coastal states, which could cut off its supplies by sea The Supreme Court, which could order it disbanded as raised unconstitutionally A coalition of European powers bound by treaty to defend the states
42. 42. How does No. 45 contrast federal and state powers?

    Federal powers are unlimited in scope, while state powers are strictly enumerated Federal powers few and defined; state powers numerous and indefinite Both are equally broad, and concurrent over nearly every object of government State powers are limited to local taxation and the regulation of internal roads
43. 43. How does Jay describe the American people in No. 2?

    As a mixture of nations, whose only common bond is their trade and commerce As a people divided by religion and by region, but united against a common enemy As one united people, alike in ancestry, language, religion and principles As thirteen distinct peoples, held together during the war only by their common fear of Britain
44. 44. What does No. 44 say about the ban on states issuing bills of credit (paper money)?

    It merely copied a rule already in the Articles of Confederation word for word It must please every lover of justice, given the damage paper money had done It would make taxation impossible for the states It was a regrettable concession forced on the convention by the commercial states
45. 45. What precedent does No. 34 give for two coexisting legislative authorities?

    The Achaean council and assembly The English Lords and Commons The Roman comitia centuriata and comitia tributa The Dutch States-General and the provincial states of Holland
46. 46. According to the passage quoted from Mably in No. 20, what held the Dutch union together?

    The States-General The stadtholder The Bank of Amsterdam The Reformed Church
47. 47. Between which interests does Hamilton say any competition for partial favour would lie?

    Landed men and merchants Manufacturers and labourers Northern and southern states Creditors and debtors
48. 48. In No. 25, how did the Spartans evade their rule against appointing the same admiral twice?

    They let the allies elect the admiral They appointed Lysander’s son admiral and let the father advise him They gave Lysander the real power under the title of vice-admiral They suspended the law for one year by a special vote of the ephors
49. 49. How does No. 42 present the clause delaying a ban on importing slaves until 1808?

    As a regrettable delay but still a great point gained for humanity As an encouragement to free emigration from Europe to the southern states As a permanent guarantee of the slave trade As a sign that the slave trade would wither away of itself without any law
50. 50. What is Hamilton’s main argument in No. 74 for letting the President pardon even treason?

    A prompt offer of pardon to rebels may restore peace before the moment passes Judges cannot be trusted with political crimes committed during an insurrection Treason trials should always end in mercy The Senate is too sympathetic to traitors