B.Purpose: To gain an understanding of the people and the events surrounding the writing of the U.S. Constitution, as a foundation for establishing perspective on current political events.
read a brief overview of the delegates provided by the National Archives titled Overview of the Founding Fathers and Analyzing Visuals: Who were the Framers? After reading both documents, you should be able to answer the following questions worth 1 point each. Just like the above, number your answers from 1 to 15. Most of the questions below only require a numerical answer, so you do not have to answer in complete sentences.
1. How many delegates had signed the Declaration of Independence? (Note: Please indicate your answer in numeric form, i.e. 12, NOT written form, i.e. “twelve”) [HINT: The answer is not “8”]
2. How many delegates had signed the Articles of Confederation? (Note: Please indicate your answer in numeric form, i.e. 12, NOT written form, i.e. “twelve”) [HINT: The answer is not “6”]
3. What other types of political experience did the delegates have? How many earned a substantial part of their income from public office?
4. Overall, how would you describe the economic status of the delegates? How many were “self-made” men?
5. What was the most common occupation among the delegates?
6. How many of the delegates were involved directly in business and trade?
7. How many were financiers, buying and selling land and/or stocks and bonds?
8. How many owned or operated plantations based on slave labor? How many were slave-holders?
9. How many were manual laborers?
10. How many delegates were not born in the United States? (Note: Please indicate your answer in numeric form, i.e. 12, NOT written form, i.e. “twelve”)
11. How many delegates had lived and/or worked in more than one state (or colony)?
12. How many delegates attended college?
13. Other than formal school-based education, how were delegates educated?
14. How many delegates had been members of the Continental Congress? (Note: Please indicate your answer in numeric form, i.e. 12, NOT written form, i.e. “twelve”)
15. Which state sent the most delegates to the Convention? Which state sent no delegates to the Convention?