Which sentence contains a dependent clause?

madison always rejected the nickname "father of the constitution," saying the constitution had many “fathers.”

madison was known as the “father of the constitution” because of his contributions to the document.

madison was also one of the authors of the federalist papers, which argued for support of the constitution.

he was the shortest u. s. president, but james madison had a big impact on the united states of america.

The sentence which contains Dependent Clause is:  

Madison was also one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, which argued for support of the constitution.

Further Explanation:

A dependent clause (also known as the subordinate clause) is the one which cannot alone form a sentence; it is dependent on other words being added so that it can form a sentence.  On the other hand, an independent clause is the one which can stand alone as a sentence or can be combined with other phrases to form a complex sentence, with the help of a proper use of conjunctions and punctuations. Understanding how to differentiate between dependent and independent clause will help you in constructing proper sentence and using correct punctuation.  

A dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction, like after, if, because, before, although, or when, and therefore needs the support of an independent clause to form the complete sentence. Dependent clauses are of three types: adjective clauses, which depicts nouns; adverbial clauses, which convey us when, why, how, or under which circumstances something happens in a sentence; and noun clauses, which behave the subject or the object of a clause and normally begin with words like why, who, what and that.

In the above-given question, the sentence Madison was also one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, which argued for support of the constitution contains the dependent clause. If we break the sentence, we find:

Madison was also one of the authors of the federalist papers (independent clause) --which argued for the support of the constitution (dependent clause). Here, it is clear that a dependent clause cannot form a sentence alone and it relies on independent clause.  

Learn more:

1. What was the middle name of the individual upon whom the fictional character Atticus finch is based? link

2. When a sentence includes a participial phrase, the phrase functions as a(n)? link

Answer Details:

Grade: Senior School

Subject: English  

Chapter: Dependent Clause

Keywords: Clause, Dependent Clause, Independent Clause, sentence, punctuation, subordinate clause, conjunction, adjective clause, adverbial clause, noun clause.  

the answer is the speaker views both as possessions that reflect his importance.