Q 01/05

Which delegate said at the Constitution's signing that the sun on the presiding officer's chair was rising, not setting?

A) John Hancock

B) William Livingston

C) Benjamin Franklin

D) Samuel Adams

Answer · why

C) Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, at 81 the oldest signer, admitted he had spent the summer unsure which way that sun was heading.

Q 02/05

Which state refused to send any delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and became the last to ratify?

A) Massachusetts

B) Rhode Island

C) Georgia

D) Maryland

Answer · why

B) Rhode Island

Rhode Island held out until May 1790 and gave way only when the other states threatened heavy tariffs on its trade.

Q 03/05

Which state's name is spelled with a letter missing beside its delegates' signatures on the original US Constitution?

A) Massachusetts

B) Connecticut

C) Virginia

D) Pennsylvania

Answer · why

D) Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania appears as Pensylvania, a spelling that was accepted in the 1700s and is also cast into the Liberty Bell.

Q 04/05

Which delegate, unanimously elected to preside over the 1787 Constitutional Convention, barely spoke in its debates?

A) John Hancock

B) William Samuel Johnson

C) George Washington

D) John Rutledge

Answer · why

C) George Washington

George Washington broke his silence on the final day, backing a change to smaller House districts of 30,000 residents instead of 40,000.

Q 05/05

Which future president missed the 1787 Constitutional Convention because he was serving as American minister to France?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) John Adams

C) James Monroe

D) John Quincy Adams

Answer · why

A) Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson followed the news from Paris and, in a letter to John Adams, described the delegates as an assembly of demigods.