Which statement about the 1789 Constitution is true?

Which statement about the 1789 Constitution is true?

• A. It had no bill of rights
• B. It provided for a unicameral legislature
• C. It included a comprehensive bill of rights
• D. It established a direct popular vote for all officials

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is what the original 1789 Constitution actually included. At ratification, there was no Bill of Rights in the document itself; the first ten amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were added later in 1791. So the statement about having no bill of rights is true because, in its initial form, the Constitution did not contain those protections. Think about the other features as well to see why they don’t fit. The Constitution established a two-house Congress (a Senate and a House of Representatives), not a single-chamber legislature. It did not provide a direct popular vote for all officials: the President was chosen by an Electoral College, and Senators were originally chosen by state legislatures (not by direct popular vote), with Representatives elected by the people. The Bill of Rights, while now seen as essential, was not part of the 1789 document itself.

The key idea here is what the original 1789 Constitution actually included. At ratification, there was no Bill of Rights in the document itself; the first ten amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were added later in 1791. So the statement about having no bill of rights is true because, in its initial form, the Constitution did not contain those protections.

Think about the other features as well to see why they don’t fit. The Constitution established a two-house Congress (a Senate and a House of Representatives), not a single-chamber legislature. It did not provide a direct popular vote for all officials: the President was chosen by an Electoral College, and Senators were originally chosen by state legislatures (not by direct popular vote), with Representatives elected by the people. The Bill of Rights, while now seen as essential, was not part of the 1789 document itself.