Question

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America.
—Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist Paper 1

What is Alexander Hamilton saying in the quote above?
A.
The government under the U.S. Constitution will be too strong.
B.
The U.S. Constitution should include protections for individual rights.
C.
The Articles of Confederation should stay as the governing document.
D.
The government under the Articles of Confederation was inefficient.

Answer 1

D. The government under the Articles of Confederation was inefficient.

Hamilton is saying the existing (subsisting) federal government — i.e., the government operating under the Articles of Confederation — had proven ineffective, which is why delegates were called to create a new Constitution.