Q 01/05

In Federalist No. 51, Madison wrote that no government would be needed if men were what?

A) Saints

B) Angels

C) Philosophers

D) Equals

Answer · why

B) Angels

Angels would need no rulers, Madison reasoned, but real people do. So a government must first control the governed and then be obliged to control itse...

Q 02/05

Which pen name, borrowed from a founder of the Roman Republic, signed all of The Federalist Papers?

A) Caesar

B) Agrippa

C) Publius

D) Cincinnatus

Answer · why

C) Publius

Publius honored Publius Valerius Publicola, whose nickname meant friend of the people. Hamilton had already used the name in 1778 for three letters at...

Q 03/05

Which branch do The Federalist Papers call 'the least dangerous', holding neither sword nor purse?

A) The presidency

B) The Senate

C) The House

D) The judiciary

Answer · why

D) The judiciary

The judiciary, Hamilton argued in No. 78, can only issue rulings and must rely on the executive to carry them out. That weakness was his case for givi...

Q 04/05

Hamilton left a list claiming 63 Federalist Papers as his own days before dueling which vice president?

A) Aaron Burr

B) George Clinton

C) John Adams

D) Thomas Jefferson

Answer · why

A) Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr's shot proved fatal, and the list was later used in print to credit each essay to an author. Madison answered with a rival list of his own.

Q 05/05

What addition to the Constitution did Hamilton call unnecessary and even dangerous in Federalist No. 84?

A) A national bank

B) A bill of rights

C) A privy council

D) A second convention

Answer · why

B) A bill of rights

A bill of rights, Hamilton warned, would list exceptions to powers never granted and so offer a pretext to claim more. He called the Constitution itse...