Part A
Short-Answer Questions
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the
space provided.
Document 1
… Almost immediately after the Confederation was created, many Americans, including [James]
Madison, came to see that it was much too weak to do what they wanted. By the 178os the
problems were severe and conspicuous [obvious]. The Congress could not tax and pay its bills.
It could not feed, clothe, or supply the army. It could not levy tariffs to regulate trade or to
retaliate against the mercantilist European empires. It was even having trouble gathering a
quorum to conduct business. Attempts to revise the Articles and grant the Congress the power
to levy a 5 percent impost [tax] on imported European goods were thwarted by the need to get
the unanimous consent of all thirteen states. Internationally the United States were being
humiliated. In the Mediterranean the Barbary pirates were seizing American ships and selling
their sailors into slavery, and the Confederation was powerless to do anything. It was unable even
to guarantee the territorial integrity of the new nation. Great Britain continued to hold posts in
the northwestern parts of United States territory in defiance of the peace treaty of 1783. In the
southwest Spain was claiming territory that included much of present-day Alabama and
Mississippi and plotting with American dissidents to break away from the Union.…
Source: Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, Penguin Press, 2006
According to Gordon S. Wood, what were two weaknesses of the national government under the Articles of
Confederation that led to the Constitutional Convention? [2]
Short-Answer Questions
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the
space provided.
Document 1
… Almost immediately after the Confederation was created, many Americans, including [James]
Madison, came to see that it was much too weak to do what they wanted. By the 178os the
problems were severe and conspicuous [obvious]. The Congress could not tax and pay its bills.
It could not feed, clothe, or supply the army. It could not levy tariffs to regulate trade or to
retaliate against the mercantilist European empires. It was even having trouble gathering a
quorum to conduct business. Attempts to revise the Articles and grant the Congress the power
to levy a 5 percent impost [tax] on imported European goods were thwarted by the need to get
the unanimous consent of all thirteen states. Internationally the United States were being
humiliated. In the Mediterranean the Barbary pirates were seizing American ships and selling
their sailors into slavery, and the Confederation was powerless to do anything. It was unable even
to guarantee the territorial integrity of the new nation. Great Britain continued to hold posts in
the northwestern parts of United States territory in defiance of the peace treaty of 1783. In the
southwest Spain was claiming territory that included much of present-day Alabama and
Mississippi and plotting with American dissidents to break away from the Union.…
Source: Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, Penguin Press, 2006
According to Gordon S. Wood, what were two weaknesses of the national government under the Articles of
Confederation that led to the Constitutional Convention? [2]