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 Articles of Confederation was inefficient.
B.
The government under the U.S. Constitution will be too strong.
C.
The Articles of Confederation should stay as the governing document.
D.
The U.S. Constitution should include protections for individual rights.

Answer 1

A.

Hamilton is saying the existing (subsisting) federal government has proved inefficient — i.e., the Articles of Confederation were inadequate — so a new Constitution must be considered. Choices B–D are not what this sentence asserts.