Deck 2: The Constitution

Question 1

The Committees of Correspondence were established to communicate ideas among the colonies.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The "shot heard round the world" was fired at

A)Saratoga, New York.
B)Camden, New Jersey.
C)Concord, Massachusetts.
D)Yorktown, Virginia.
E)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Great Britain used the principle of mercantilism to justify

A)its legal authority over the colonies.
B)its assistance in the French and Indian Wars.
C)strict import/export controls on the colonies.
D)allowing colonists to levy their own taxes.
E)westward migration and settlement.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

To facilitate communication and the flow of information among independence-minded colonists,colonial leaders formed the

A)Sisters of Liberty.
B)Committees of Correspondence.
C)Continental Congress.
D)Stamp Act Congress.
E)Thomas Paine Society.

Question 5

The Electoral College system created by the Framers was designed to give

A)federal government the preeminent role in choosing the president.
B)states a key role in choosing the president.
C)average voters the decisive power in choosing the president.
D)electors the power to choose members of Congress.
E)the Supreme Court a role in choosing the president.

Question 6

Without the supremacy clause,

A)state laws could supersede national law.
B)states could impeach U.S. Supreme Court justices.
C)federal government could enact laws dealing with education.
D)international law would be supreme to acts of Congress.
E)local law could supersede state law.

Question 7

The First Amendment of the Constitution provides for which of the following?

A)Freedom of assembly
B)Right to bear arms
C)Right to vote
D)Right to an attorney
E)Federal form of government

Question 8

The amendment process for the Constitution is set out in Article V and creates a

A)two-stage process of proposal and ratification.
B)fairly easy procedure for changing the document.
C)single-stage process utilizing conventions or Congress.
D)process by which the states, Congress, the executive branch, and a majority of voters must agree on changes to the document.
E)process of congressional approval and presidential signing into law.

Question 9

Eighteen to 21-year-olds received the right to vote with ratification of the

A)Constitution.
B)Bill of Rights.
C)Twenty-Sixth Amendment.
D)Nineteenth Amendment.
E)Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

Question 10

The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to

A)elevate George Washington to president.
B)revise the Articles of Confederation.
C)write a new constitution.
D)add additional states to the new nation.
E)resolve trade disputes among the states.

Question 11

Which of the following BEST describes the relationships among states under the Articles of Confederation?

A)A strong constitutional system
B)A form of government modeled after Canada
C)A life-long rivalry
D)A loose league of friendship
E)An interdependent, cohesive partnership

Question 12

A committee was appointed at the Constitutional Convention to work out the differences between the proposals of large and small states; the result was the

A)Virginia Plan.
B)New Jersey Plan.
C)Great Compromise.
D)Electoral College.
E)Bill of Rights.

Question 13

The 1787 Convention in Philadelphia was called for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation.

Question 14

The ________ is empowered by the Constitution to make all federal laws.

A)federal bureaucracy
B)judicial branch
C)legislative branch
D)executive branch
E)Electoral College

Question 15

Informal methods of amending the Constitution include

A)social change, judicial interpretation, and acts of Congress.
B)judicial interpretation and cultural and social change.
C)executive orders.
D)acts of state legislatures.
E)a national referendum and/or initiative.

Question 16

The 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled farmers marched on Springfield,Massachusetts,to prevent foreclosure on their farms was called

A)Shays's Rebellion.
B)Paul Revere's Ride.
C)Bacon's Rebellion.
D)the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
E)the Second Boston Tea Party.

Question 17

The system of government in which power is divided between the state and national governments is called

A)federalism.
B)unitarism.
C)pluralism.
D)confederation.
E)constitutionalism.

Question 18

In 1765,the American colonists initiated a major protest against the

A)Treaty of Paris.
B)Quartering Act.
C)Sugar Act.
D)Tea Act.
E)Stamp Act.

Question 19

Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense to argue for American independence from Great Britain.

Question 20

The series of 85 political papers written by John Jay,Alexander Hamilton,and James Madison in support of ratification of the new constitution are called the

A)Pennsylvania Packet.
B)Federalist Papers.
C)Anti-Federalist Papers.
D)Crisis.
E)Common Sense.

Question 21

By the early 1760s,all colonies had

A)drafted their own constitutions.
B)abolished religious freedom.
C)grown closer to the Crown in spite of the distance.
D)begun to enforce feudal craft systems.
E)continued the British practice of compulsory tithing.

Question 22

The First Continental Congress was called to

A)iron out differences with the king.
B)author a Declaration of Independence.
C)respond to taxes levied by the Stamp Act.
D)address the fighting at Lexington and Concord.
E)respond to the Boston Massacre.

Question 23

The U.S.Constitution has been regularly rewritten.

Question 24

The Constitution has only changed through formal amendments.

Question 25

To appease southern states,slaves were counted as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes.

Question 26

A political cartoon in the text depicts President Barack Obama's policies as

A)necessary actions by the U.S. government.
B)contrary to the original motives of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
C)constitutional methods to affect change.
D)literal interpretations of the Declaration of Independence.
E)a contradictory mix of socialism and communism.

Question 27

Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were among the leaders of the

A)Sons of Liberty.
B)Stamp Act Congress.
C)Philadelphia Parliament.
D)Continental Congress.
E)Virginia House of Burgesses.

Question 28

Modern trade agreements designed to balance the flow of goods among countries have their theoretical roots in

A)interventionism.?
B)the goals of the Treaty of Paris of 1763.
C)constitutionalism.
D)mercantilism.
E)the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Question 29

Article I of the Constitution creates the U.S.Supreme Court.

Question 30

The words and ideas of political philosopher John Locke flow through

A)the Olive Branch Petition.
B)the Declaration of Independence.
C)The Crisis.
D)the Articles of Confederation.
E)the Stamp Act.

Question 31

In Federalist No.10,Madison argued that the greatest threat to individual liberty comes from factions within the government.

Question 32

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress formed a Committee of Five to write the Declaration of Independence.The committee's chair was

A)Benjamin Franklin.
B)James Madison.
C)Thomas Jefferson.
D)Samuel Adams.
E)John Adams.

Question 33

Originally,electors did not vote for the president and vice president separately.

Question 34

The first official meeting of the thirteen colonies was the

A)Continental Congress.
B)Sons and Daughters of Liberty.
C)Committees of Correspondence.
D)Stamp Act Congress.
E)Constitutional Convention.

Question 35

At the First Continental Congress,there were delegates from

A)every colony except New York.
B)every colony except Rhode Island.
C)all thirteen colonies.
D)all the colonies and a representative of the king.
E)every colony except Georgia.

Question 36

A type of government in which the national government is weaker than the sum of its parts is called a

A)confederation.
B)federal system.
C)unitary system.
D)democracy.
E)republic.

Question 37

Before ratification of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment,the U.S.Supreme Court decided that

A)states could not have a voting age requirement different than twenty-one.
B)states could prohibit those under twenty-one from voting in state and local elections.
C)poll taxes were unconstitutional unless applied to voters between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one.
D)states had the final say on voting requirements in both local and national elections.
E)Oregon's voting laws were unconstitutional.

Question 38

Article II of the Constitution vests the executive power in a president.

Question 39

The Boston Tea Party was a

A)celebration conducted after the end of the Revolutionary War.
B)colonial response to the Intolerable Acts.
C)response to the Tea Act, which lowered the price of tea for loyalists in the southern states.
D)response to the Tea Act, which penalized many colonial merchants.
E)meeting of reconciliation between the crown and colonial leaders.

Question 40

In 1776,Thomas Paine authored a pamphlet arguing for colonial independence from Britain entitled

A)The Plain Truth.
B)The Crisis.
C)The Leviathan.
D)Common Sense.
E)A Treatise on Government.

Question 41

In 1781,the thirteen colonies adopted the ________ as the basis of their government.

A)Constitution
B)Treaty of Paris
C)Articles of Confederation
D)Declaration of Independence
E)New Jersey Plan

Question 42

One of the Articles of Confederation's greatest weaknesses was that it

A)had no strong central government.
B)had a strong president.
C)had the ability to coin money.
D)had a legislature that refused to meet.
E)created a tyrannical central government.

Question 43

The Committee on Unfinished Portions was tasked with ironing out problems concerning

A)judicial powers.
B)the slave trade.
C)election of the legislature.
D)the executive branch.
E)small-state representation in the Senate.

Question 44

Why did southern states want slaves to be counted as part of their population?

A)It would ensure that slaves would receive certain inalienable rights.
B)Northerners were advocating for the deportation of slave labor.
C)It would increase southern representation in the House of Representatives.
D)Slaves could then be forced to serve in the military.
E)The South would then have a greater number of voters.

Question 45

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a deal to

A)iron out the differences between slave-holding and non-slave-holding states.
B)give northern and southern states equal representation in the House of Representatives.
C)determine how a chief executive would be selected.
D)iron out differences between greatly populated and sparsely populated states.
E)ultimately create the Electoral College.

Question 46

The division of authority among the three branches of government is called

A)federalism.
B)pluralism.
C)separation of powers.
D)compromise.
E)gridlock.

Question 47

Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention believed that the new nation was in such dire straits that they were willing to

A)take up arms against Indians on the western front.
B)develop a looser league of friendship among the states.
C)risk potential charges of treason.
D)muzzle Benjamin Franklin.
E)establish an American "monarchy."

Question 48

Pennsylvania and Virginia actually went to war with one another due in large part to the lack of _________ in the Articles of Confederation.

A)a judiciary to resolve conflicts
B)a national military to appease rebellions
C)a chief executive to enforce order?
D)taxation provisions?
E)proportional representation in the Congress

Question 49

Under the Articles of Confederation,the national government had the power to do all of the following EXCEPT
I)control a post office.
II)directly elect members of Congress.
III)negotiate peace treaties.
IV)ratify constitutional amendments.

A)II only
B)III only
C)I and II.
D)II and IV
E)I, II, III, and IV

Question 50

Debate among political historians continues over the motives of the Framers.Charles Beard argues that the men in Philadelphia were

A)all patriots who had fought in the war.
B)largely farmers who favored existing arrangements.
C)worried that slavery was having a negative impact on trade relations with other nations.
D)concerned with establishing a direct democracy.
E)concerned that the Articles failed to protect the interests of the business class.

Question 51

Advocates of the Tea Party movement,who advocate strongly for states' rights,would MOST likely support which of the following types of government?

A)Confederation
B)Federal system
C)Unitary system
D)Republicanism
E)Communitarianism

Question 52

Larger states,such as Virginia and Pennsylvania,advocated for

A)powerful state governments.
B)a powerful national government.
C)a judiciary elected directly by the people.
D)a one-house legislature composed of representatives elected by state legislatures.
E)strengthening, but not rewriting, the Articles of Confederation.

Question 53

The principles of separation of powers and checks and balances originated with

A)Machiavelli.
B)Rousseau.
C)Montesquieu.
D)Voltaire.
E)Locke.

Question 54

Montesquieu urged that governments should include a system of ________ to give the three branches some degree of oversight and control of each other.

A)federalism
B)checks and balances
C)command and control
D)social contract
E)constitutional safeguards

Question 55

The bicameral U.S.Congress is a byproduct of which of the following proposals?

A)The Virginia Plan
B)The Missouri Compromise
C)The New Jersey Plan
D)The Connecticut Plan
E)Amendments to the Articles of Confederation

Question 56

The sole responsibility to try a president or vice president on charges of "treason,bribery,or other high crimes and misdemeanors" falls to the

A)House of Representatives.
B)state legislatures.
C)Supreme Court.
D)federal court system.
E)Senate.

Question 57

Under the Articles of Confederation,the executive branch was

A)relatively weak.
B)nonexistent.
C)quite strong.
D)responsible for executing all laws.
E)able to raise a national army.

Question 58

Of the following components of the Great Compromise,which concept is derived from the Virginia Plan?
I)A bicameral legislature
II)Three branches of government
III)Supremacy of the national government
IV)Giving the U.S.House of Representatives the power to originate spending bills

A)III only
B)I and II
C)I, II, and IV
D)I, II, and III
E)I, II, III, and IV

Question 59

The smaller states presented a plan at the Constitutional Convention basically advocating the strengthening of the Articles of Confederation.The plan was presented by

A)Rhode Island.
B)New Jersey.
C)Texas.
D)Virginia.
E)Delaware.

Question 60

The most serious disagreement in the debate between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention was over the issue of

A)representation in Congress.
B)judicial power.
C)westward expansion.
D)taxation.
E)creating a Supreme Court.

Question 61

Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman argues that the Constitution can be changed

A)by extraordinary times calling for extraordinary measures.
B)only by the formal amendment process.
C)by decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.
D)by powerful presidential actions.
E)by public opinion polls.

Question 62

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the national voting age to eighteen.

Question 63

U.S.Supreme Court justices are appointed by the

A)president.
B)Cabinet.
C)states.
D)House of Representatives.
E)Senate.

Question 64

Honoring out-of-state driver's licenses is an example of the consequences of

A)the supremacy clause.
B)sovereign immunity.
C)checks and balances.
D)the full faith and credit clause.
E)federalism.

Question 65

The pen names Brutus and Cato are a specific reflection of the Anti-Federalists'

A)fear of a too powerful national government.
B)attempts to establish Roman law.
C)desire for a uniform tax code.
D)argument against a Bill of Rights in the proposed Constitution.
E)desire to create a happy combination of state and national government.

Question 66

The Women's Christian Temperance Union was a major force behind passage of the

A)Fourteenth Amendment.
B)Fifteenth Amendment.
C)Seventeenth Amendment.
D)Eighteenth Amendment.
E)Nineteenth Amendment.

Question 67

Those who favored ratification of the Constitution were known as

A)Whigs.
B)Democratic-Republicans.
C)Anti-Federalists.
D)Tories.
E)Federalists.

Question 68

Under the No Child Left Behind Act,states have the authority to design their educational systems as they wish,but they must comply with certain national standards to receive funding.This division of power is an example of

A)federalism.
B)unitarism.
C)pluralism.
D)confederation.
E)constitutionalism.

Question 69

The president has a list of enumerated duties of office largely found in _________ of the U.S.Constitution.

A)Article I
B)Article II
C)Article III
D)Article IV
E)Article V

Question 70

All of the following were differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists EXCEPT

A)the Federalists were generally landed and rich, while the Anti-Federalists were small farmers.
B)the Federalists were generally elitist, while the Anti-Federalists were common men.
C)the Federalists generally favored the philosophy of John Jay, while the Anti-Federalists favored Alexander Hamilton.
D)the Federalists favored centralized government, while the Anti-Federalists favored decentralized government.
E)the Federalists favored the British, while the Anti-Federalists favored the French.

Question 71

The Anti-Federalists demanded a series of amendments to the Constitution to protect individual liberties known as

A)the libertarian amendments.
B)the Anti-Federalist amendments.
C)the Bill of Rights.
D)Mr. Madison's Mistake.
E)the confederation amendments.

Question 72

The proposed Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment would

A)require that women hold 50 percent of seats in the legislature.
B)allow foreign-born citizens to run for president.
C)repeal age requirements for holding certain political positions.
D)create a presidential recall.
E)allow members of Congress to also serve as state governors.

Question 73

The Anti-Federalists feared

A)a confederacy.
B)amendments.
C)strong central government.
D)checks and balances.
E)separation of powers.

Question 74

The power to regulate car emissions comes from Congress's authority

A)under the necessary and proper clause.
B)as enumerated in the Constitution.
C)to approve presidential appointments.
D)under the power to tax clause.
E)to make the federal budget.

Question 75

Which Article of the Constitution establishes the legislative branch?

A)Article I
B)Article II
C)Article III
D)Article IV
E)Article V

Question 76

Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cannot become president because

A)governors from large states often find it difficult to be elected.
B)the Constitution prohibits those who are not natural-born citizens from running for the presidency.
C)voters are likely to be suspicious of his motives as a naturalized citizen.
D)he first would have to serve in Congress for fourteen years.
E)he does not meet the age requirement to be president.

Question 77

The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution deals largely with rights of

A)gun ownership.
B)criminal defendants.
C)quartering of soldiers.?
D)immigrants.
E)free speech.

Question 78

The Equal Rights Amendment

A)was the last amendment added to the Constitution.
B)failed to gain passage in both houses of Congress.
C)failed to win approval by the requisite number of states.
D)would allow for same-sex marriages.
E)would prohibit flag burning.

Question 79

The full faith and credit clause found in Article IV requires that

A)Americans remain faithful to one God and tithe to their church.
B)no state may coin its own currency.
C)states generally honor the laws and rulings of other states.
D)federal courts have the right to resolve issues of state law.
E)all fifty states create a republican form of government.

Question 80

Following a Supreme Court decision in the 1970s,citizens under twenty-one were eligible to vote in national elections in some states.