Download Ellis The Agrument Guided Reading Questions

Chapter Three
The Argument
1. Why was a weak government under the Articles of Confederation the preferred
choice of a majority of citizens?
2. What is meant by the “Nationalist” versus “Confederalist” debate following American
independence?
3. What does Ellis consider “the most creative moment in all of American political
history?” Why?
4. Why is the constitution “an argument without end?”
5. Why did most people not support a strong central government in the 1780s?
6. What did critics of the confederation, such as James Madison, fear when they claimed
“anarchy” was imminent?
7. How did George Washington and James Madison come to support a strong central
government from rather different experiences?
8. What four developments made many Americans realize that a strong central
government was needed?
9. Describe James Madison’s physical appearance? How did his physical stature affect
the way people perceived him?
10. Who formed an “ultra-nationalist” caucus from the Virginia delegation?
11. In “Notes on Ancient and Modern Confederacies,” James Madison makes what
conclusions about confederacies?
12. What did James Madison consider the main failures of state governments under the
Articles of Confederation?
13. What is considered by many to be “his [James Madison] most brilliant contribution to
modern political science?”
14. Before going to the convention in Philadelphia, James Madison held what convictions
about the structure and function of a future national government? Were his
convictions realized?
15. In regards to congressional representation, what did the Virginia and New Jersey Plans
advocate? What large political issue did this debate represent?
16. How did George Washington and James Madison interpret the “Great Compromise?”
17. When James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson about the Philadelphia convention,
what did Madison see as the “accomplishments” of the new constitution? What was
left unresolved?
18. Why does Joseph Ellis consider the adoption of the labels “Federalist” and
“Antifederalist” as an important first step in the constitutional debate?
19. How did Federalists frame the debate concerning the ratification of the constitution?
20. Why does Joseph Ellis assert that The Federalist had more influence on later-day
scholars interpreting the constitution rather than on contemporaries who were voting
to ratify it?
21. Why did Alexander Hamilton and James Madison come to embrace an ambiguous
and shared sovereignty between the federal and state governments?
22. Summarize Patrick Henry’s four main arguments against ratification of the constitution.
23. James Madison contributed two new ideas to modern political thought. The first
asserted that a republic would flourish in a large geographical area. What was the
second contribution?