Question

Some of the delegates to the Convention said that they were exceeding their authority in writing the Constitution. Why did they say this?
Options:
a) The general public never voted to reject the Articles of Confederation
b) the delegates to the Convention were not elected officials
c) the Continental Congress had assigned them the task of amending the Articles of Confederation 
d) the Articles of Confederation had no provision for amending the Articles
e) The Continental Congress was divided on the issue of amending the Articles

Answer 1

The answer is C. The continet congress had assigned them the task of amending the Articles of Confederation

Answer 2

The correct answer here would be C. The usual story goes that Confederation Congress only assigned them to propose the amendments to the Articles but instead they created an entirely new document. This is their reason, among others but none of them are correct as the Convention did not exceed its authority. The Confederation Congress for one was not a government in the true sense of the word. It was more an alliance like NATO. The convention was a also a meeting about just more than the Articles. The convention was beyond the Congress and its opinion was nothing more than that, just an opinion. Furthermore all 13 states ratified the Constitution. So no the Convention did not exceed its authority.