Deck 2: The Constitution

Question 1

How many constitutions has the United States had in its history?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The U.S.Constitution was adopted in response to the weaknesses of which document?

A) Shays's Rebellion
B) the Constitution of the United Kingdom
C) the Declaration of Independence
D) the Articles of Confederation

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Article I,section 8 of the Constitution contains __________ powers.

A) Congress's enumerated
B) the executive
C) the judicial
D) the states'

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which clause provides that the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land?

A) full faith and credit
B) supremacy
C) primacy
D) due process

Question 5

Which of the following is a branch of the U.S.government?

A) Congress
B) Supreme Court
C) presidency
D) legislative

Question 6

Which of the following imposed a tax on paper items such as cards and books?

A) Crown Act
B) Paper Act
C) Stamp Act
D) Tax Act

Question 7

How many amendments comprise the Bill of Rights?

A) ten
B) thirteen
C) twenty
D) twenty-seven

Question 8

__________ is an economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.

A) Nationalism
B) Socialism
C) Mercantilism
D) Commercialism

Question 9

Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?

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

Question 10

Which of the following debated and drafted the Declaration of Independence?

A) the First Continental Congress
B) the Second Continental Congress
C) the Committees of Correspondence
D) the Constitutional Convention

Question 11

The colonists rebelled against the imposition by the British government of which of the following?

A) taxes
B) a military draft
C) curfews
D) religious laws

Question 12

Which of the following philosophers greatly influenced the colonists' views on the role of government?

A) Daniel Shays
B) John Locke
C) John Boehner
D) Gramm Rudman

Question 13

Which of the following people generally favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S.Constitution?

A) Daniel Shays
B) Federalists
C) Anti-Federalists
D) Constitutionalists

Question 14

During the Constitutional Convention,which states generally opposed an unelected federal judiciary?

A) small states
B) large states
C) southern states
D) northern states

Question 15

Which constitutional amendment allowed voting for citizens who were eighteen or older?

A) Nineteenth
B) Twentieth
C) Twenty-Sixth
D) Twenty-Seventh

Question 16

At the Constitutional Convention,the delegates agreed that slaves would be counted as __________ of a person for determining population for representation in the House of Representatives.

A) one-third
B) three-fifths
C) two-thirds
D) four-fifths

Question 17

In what year was the U.S.Constitution ratified?

A) 1776
B) 1797
C) 1791
D) 1788

Question 18

How many of the thirteen colonies voted for independence?

A) nine
B) ten
C) twelve
D) thirteen

Question 19

In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

A) 1776
B) 1782
C) 1791
D) 1828

Question 20

In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?

A) 1776
B) 1787
C) 1797
D) 1801

Question 21

Which of the following specifies the procedure for amending the Constitution?

A) Article I
B) Article III
C) Article V
D) Article VI

Question 22

The "Intolerable Acts" was the colonists' name for the __________ Acts of 1774.

A) Stamp
B) Tea
C) Coercive
D) Mercantile

Question 23

Which of the following was a problem under the Articles of Confederation?

A) The national government was too strong compared to the states.
B) Amendments were too easy to ratify.
C) Congress imposed excessive taxes.
D) Citizens lacked a national identity.

Question 24

The Constitution required consent from __________ for ratification.

A) a majority of the states
B) nine states
C) twelve states
D) all thirteen states

Question 25

Which of the following most directly protects individuals' civil liberties?

A) Second Treatise of Civil Government
B) The Federalist Papers
C) the Bill of Rights
D) the Declaration of Independence

Question 26

Under the Constitution,the president is elected by which of the following?

A) King Caucus
B) People's Plebiscite
C) Electoral College
D) direct popular election

Question 27

What did supporters of the New Jersey Plan want to do to the Articles of Confederation?

A) repeal them
B) strengthen them
C) weaken them
D) keep them the way they were

Question 28

Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment,how were senators selected?

A) by direct election
B) by the president
C) by state governors
D) by state legislatures

Question 29

__________ was a protest by Massachusetts farmers to stop foreclosures by state courts.

A) The Committee of Correspondence
B) The Federalist Papers
C) Mercantilism
D) Shays's Rebellion

Question 30

The publication of which of the following galvanized the colonists' belief that reconciliation with Great Britain was impossible?

A) Common Sense
B) Revolution
C) Federalist No. 10
D) Our American Cousin

Question 31

__________ was/were most likely to support a strong state government and a weak national government.

A) James Madison
B) John Jay
C) The Federalists
D) The Anti-Federalists

Question 32

Which of the following is a reason for the separation of powers?

A) to ensure the power of the executive
B) to promote justice
C) to prevent tyranny by any one branch
D) to create gridlock in government

Question 33

The executive branch is in charge of which of the following?

A) passing federal laws
B) declaring war
C) interpreting federal laws
D) enforcing court orders

Question 34

What does the Ninth Amendment say?

A) The states have all of the powers not granted to the federal government.
B) The people have all of the powers not granted to the federal government.
C) The Constitution's enumerated rights are not inclusive.
D) Those accused of a crime have certain rights designed to prevent the government from abusing individual liberties.

Question 35

What is the principle that each branch of the federal government has some ability to oversee and influence actions by other branches of government?

A) weights and measures
B) checks and balances
C) oversight and influence
D) privileges and immunities'

Question 36

Many of the Founders believed that government legitimacy is derived from __________,which holds that governments exist based on the consent of the governed.

A) an implied right
B) a social contract
C) a divine right
D) presidential appointment

Question 37

What type of legislature did the United States have under the Articles of Confederation?

A) one with membership based on a state's population
B) appointed
C) bicameral
D) unicameral

Question 38

The First Continental Congress was called partially in response to which of the following?

A) concerns about the Articles of Confederation
B) Shays's Rebellion
C) the Coercive Acts
D) the Three-Fifths Compromise

Question 39

What was the subject of the Great Compromise?

A) the legality of slavery
B) the form of the legislative branch
C) the number of Supreme Court justices
D) the form of the executive branch

Question 40

In the United States,the national government derives its power from which of the following?

A) states
B) courts
C) laws
D) the people

Question 41

Which of the following can be found in Article I?

A) Electoral College
B) procedure for presidential impeachment
C) necessary and proper clause
D) supremacy clause

Question 42

The Stamp Act was a major catalyst for the Declaration of Independence.

Question 43

Article III of the Constitution permits Congress to establish lower national courts.

Question 44

__________ was/were used by colonists to keep each other abreast of developments with the British and helped to ferment public opposition to Britain.

A) The Federalist Papers
B) The Second Continental Congress
C) The Committees of Correspondence
D) Common Sense

Question 45

The Three-Fifths Compromise specified that only three-fifths of slaves could vote.

Question 46

What was the greatest fear of the Anti-Federalists during the Constitutional Convention and subsequent debate?

A) that a weak national government would undermine the survival of the United States
B) that a strong national government would infringe on the rights of the states
C) that a powerful judiciary would restrict freedom of religion
D) that powerful state governments would infringe on individual liberties

Question 47

Smaller states generally wanted to strengthen the Articles of Confederation rather than replace them.

Question 48

Article I of the Constitution describes the powers of the president.

Question 49

Which government entity has the power to settle disputes between the states?

A) Senate
B) House of Representatives
C) Department of State
D) Supreme Court

Question 50

Which of the following is a method of ratifying constitutional amendments?

A) by a majority of voting-age citizens
B) by a majority of state governors
C) by three-fourths of the state legislatures
D) by three-fourths of the state governors

Question 51

A weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that the executive branch was too powerful.

Question 52

Which of the following was part of both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution?

A) a congress
B) the presidency
C) the federal judiciary
D) the effective collection of taxes by the federal government

Question 53

Under the Articles of Confederation,the president levied all taxes.

Question 54

A majority of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were slaveholders.

Question 55

Which of the following can be used to help determine the intent of the Framers?

A) the Equal Rights Amendment
B) The Federalist Papers
C) checks and balances
D) Full Faith and Credit

Question 56

The New Jersey Plan proposed a powerful central government with three branches.

Question 57

A constitution is a written document establishing the structure,functions,and limitations of a government.

Question 58

The Constitution was ratified in 1776.

Question 59

The New Jersey Plan proposed a one-house legislature with one vote for each state.

Question 60

Which of the following were most likely to oppose the proposed Constitution?

A) lawyers
B) merchants
C) small farmers
D) plantation owners

Question 61

The Constitution has been amended __________ times.

Question 62

Article II of the Constitution addresses the powers of the __________ branch.

Question 63

Article VII specified that at least __________ states would have to ratify the proposed Constitution for it to become law.

Question 64

James Madison was the author of many of the essays known as the __________.

Question 65

The Anti-Federalists strongly supported the Bill of Rights.

Question 66

The Second Continental Congress adopted the __________ in 1777.

Question 67

Describe the differences between the First and Second Continental Congress.What was the final resolution of the Second Continental Congress?

Question 68

Explain the processes for amending the Constitution.Which process have most amendments followed?

Question 69

Compare and contrast the legislatures established by the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation.

Question 70

Explain James Madison's claim that "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."

Question 71

In a __________,the national government derives its powers from the states.

Question 72

The division of the power of government into the legislative,executive,and judicial branches illustrates the __________ established by the Constitution.

Question 73

Article III of the Constitution establishes a __________ and defines its jurisdiction.

Question 74

__________ of indebted farmers exposed the problems under the Articles of Confederation.

Question 75

Article VI of the Constitution prohibits a __________ test for holding public office.

Question 76

The __________ favored a weaker national government and stronger state governments than provided for in the proposed Constitution.

Question 77

The body whose delegates signed the Declaration of Independence was the __________.

Question 78

The Constitution prohibits Congress from requiring candidates to be Christian in order to run for office.

Question 79

North Carolina's rejection of the Constitution prompted Congress to submit the Bill of Rights to the states for ratification.

Question 80

Explain the informal methods of amending the Constitution and why such methods are useful.