Q 01/05

In 1790 William Paterson became the first person ever to resign from which body, to govern New Jersey?

A) The US House

B) The US Senate

C) The Supreme Court

D) The Cabinet

Answer · why

B) The US Senate

The US Senate was less than two years old when he walked away from it. His seat still had more than two years to run, but New Jersey had just elected ...

Q 02/05

Which Treasury Secretary championed the New Jersey factory town named for Governor William Paterson?

A) Albert Gallatin

B) William H. Crawford

C) Alexander Hamilton

D) Samuel Dexter

Answer · why

C) Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton pictured a national manufacturing town there, and his society named it for the governor who signed its charter. It grew into one of...

Q 03/05

Who urged President Adams to make William Paterson Chief Justice in 1801, then got the job himself?

A) John Marshall

B) John Jay

C) Samuel Chase

D) William Cushing

Answer · why

A) John Marshall

John Marshall suggested the promotion, but Adams turned it down and told Marshall he believed he must nominate him instead. Marshall then led the Cour...

Q 04/05

William Paterson wrote the New Jersey Plan of 1787 as the small states' answer to which state's rival plan?

A) Pennsylvania

B) Massachusetts

C) South Carolina

D) Virginia

Answer · why

D) Virginia

Virginia's plan, drafted by James Madison, tied seats in both houses of Congress to population, which alarmed the smaller states. Paterson's alternati...

Q 05/05

In which country was Founding Father William Paterson born, two years before his family sailed to America?

A) Scotland

B) Ireland

C) Canada

D) Wales

Answer · why

B) Ireland

Ireland was his birthplace, in County Antrim, and the family came ashore at New Castle, Delaware, in 1747. They moved from place to place before settl...