Deck 2: The Founding and the Constitution

Question 1

The United States' first written constitution was called the ________.

A) Magna Carta
B) Bill of Rights
C) Articles of Confederation
D) Declaration of Independence

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The Boston Tea Party was largely a response to the

A) British government's decision to grant the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.
B) British government's decision to remove all of its soldiers from the colonies.
C) British government's decision to tax the colonists' personal income.
D) Boston Massacre.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following statements about national defense under the Articles of Confederation is FALSE?

A) Congress was given the power to declare war.
B) Congress was given the power to make treaties and form alliances with other countries.
C) The nation's armed forces were composed entirely of the state militias.
D) The president served as commander in chief of the nation's armed forces.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

A) John Adams
B) Samuel Adams
C) John Hancock
D) Paul Revere

Question 5

________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Samuel Adams
C) John Adams
D) John Hancock

Question 6

Which of the following sectional interests was considered unimportant in the politics of the colonial period?

A) New England merchants
B) slaves
C) royalists loyal to Britain
D) southern planters

Question 7

The Articles of Confederation were adopted in ________.

A) 1763
B) 1777
C) 1781
D) 1791

Question 8

Which of the following statements best describes British rule of the American colonies during the first half of the eighteenth century?

A) The British ruled with a heavy hand and exerted a strong influence in every colonial town and city.
B) The British ruled with a heavy hand in small towns, but exerted no influence at all in the largest cities.
C) The British ruled with a light hand and exerted a strong influence only in the largest colonial cities.
D) The British ruled with a light hand and exerted almost no influence at all in any colonial town or city.

Question 9

Colonial protesters of the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act rallied around which slogan?

A) "no taxation without representation"
B) "give me liberty or give me death"
C) "a house divided against itself cannot stand"
D) "don't tread on me"

Question 10

The First Continental Congress was

A) the meeting arranged between British and colonial forces to negotiate the end of the Revolutionary War.
B) the British government's lawmaking body for the colonies prior to 1776.
C) a loose affiliation of small farmers and artisans that organized protests against British rule between 1770 and 1774.
D) a group of colonial delegates assembled in 1774 that called for a total boycott of all British goods.

Question 11

A ________ is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body.

A) republic
B) confederation
C) bicameral state
D) unitary state

Question 12

How was political power in the Continental Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?

A) Each state had an equal vote.
B) Each state's votes were proportionate to its population.
C) Each state's power depended on its geographic size.
D) Each state's power depended on its economic wealth.

Question 13

What was the most common form of taxation during the colonial era?

A) the income tax
B) tariffs, duties, and taxes on commerce
C) the animal head tax
D) taxes for use of governmental services and lands

Question 14

Which of the following statements about the income tax is most accurate?

A) The British government began collecting income taxes in the 1760s in order to pay for the costs of protecting the colonies.
B) The income tax was the single most important source of revenue for the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
C) Colonial opposition to the income tax led to the Boston Tea Party.
D) Although the income tax is currently one of the most important sources of government revenue, it had not yet developed during British rule over the colonies in the eighteenth century.

Question 15

Under the Articles of Confederation, the

A) president of the Continental Congress was more powerful than the Congress itself.
B) Senate was the most powerful political institution.
C) Continental Congress had no power to lay taxes.
D) Supreme Court was the most powerful political institution.

Question 16

The Boston Massacre occurred when

A) five British soldiers were killed by an angry mob of colonists protesting outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
B) five colonists were killed by British soldiers outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
C) 50 colonists were killed by British soldiers outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.
D) 50 British soldiers were killed by an angry mob of colonists protesting outside of the seat of the colonial government in Boston.

Question 17

According to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of government is to

A) promote justice and secure the "blessings of liberty"
B) maintain peace at home
C) guarantee an equal distribution of wealth for all citizens
D) guarantee happiness

Question 18

Under the Articles of Confederation, it was left to the ________ to execute laws passed by the Continental Congress.

A) states
B) council of presidents
C) courts
D) president

Question 19

The Stamp Act was a

A) tax on commerce.
B) prohibition on all unofficial mail.
C) law permitting the Crown to open mail.
D) tax on sugar, molasses, and other commodities.

Question 20

The events that led to the Revolutionary War were triggered by which of the following?

A) The British raised revenue by increasing the tax rate of the colonies.
B) The British had established suspicious alliances with Indian tribes during the French and Indian Wars.
C) American separatists assassinated King George III.
D) The British attempted to end slavery in the colonies.

Question 21

What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

A) a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War
B) the cost of war against Napoleon in Europe
C) the expenses incurred in colonizing South Africa
D) the extensive roads and canals built by the British in North America

Question 22

The Three-Fifths Compromise

A) determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.
B) determined the ratio between free states and slave states.
C) declared that the states would pay three-fifths of the Revolutionary War debt and the federal government would pay the rest.
D) determined that all American citizens would pay three-fifths of their incomes to the federal government in taxes every year.

Question 23

At the Philadelphia convention, the proposed plan to create a Congress where representation was distributed according to population was called the ________.

A) Virginia Plan
B) New Hampshire Plan
C) Marshall Plan
D) New Jersey Plan

Question 24

Thomas Jefferson, the primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence, was appointed to the Committee of Five along with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and ________.

A) John Hancock
B) Robert Livingston
C) George Washington
D) James Otis

Question 25

The Declaration of Independence was a remarkable philosophical statement for its time because it asserted that

A) slavery was a "morally unjust" institution that should be outlawed.
B) there were "unalienable rights" that could not be abridged by governments.
C) laissez-faire capitalism would be the "supreme law of the land" in America.
D) America was "first and foremost, a Christian nation."

Question 26

The purpose of the Annapolis Convention was to

A) discuss revamping the Articles of Confederation
B) plot the revolt known as Shays's Rebellion
C) draft a new Bill of Rights
D) vote on ratifying the Articles of Confederation

Question 27

The Articles of Confederation were concerned primarily with

A) creating a unitary form of government.
B) creating a federal form of government.
C) creating a government in which the states were largely subservient to the national government.
D) limiting the powers of the central government.

Question 28

Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable political statement for its time?

A) It convinced southern states to abolish slavery.
B) It persuaded the British government to give back all of the tax revenue it had collected from the colonies.
C) It ended the Revolutionary War by offering a compromise with the British government.
D) It helped unify colonial groups that were divided along economic, regional, and philosophical lines by identifying shared problems, grievances, and principles.

Question 29

The Virginia Plan proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based on

A) equal representation between the states.
B) the concept of universal suffrage.
C) the population of each state, the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both.
D) the strength of each state's militia.

Question 30

The Land Ordinance of 1785 was significant because it

A) imposed large tariffs on luxury goods arriving on American lands through East Coast ports.
B) established the principles of land surveying and landownership that governed America's westward expansion.
C) redistributed the property of British loyalists to small farmers who supported the revolution.
D) provided 40 acres of free land to all immigrants from western and northern European countries.

Question 31

Which state did not send delegates to the convention at Philadelphia?

A) Rhode Island
B) Massachusetts
C) Virginia
D) Maine

Question 32

Under the Articles of Confederation

A) the armed forces of the United States consisted of state militias.
B) the Continental Congress had the power to lay taxes on citizens.
C) there was no president.
D) the Continental Congress required only a simple majority to make decisions; the unanimous consent of all states was not necessary.

Question 33

Daniel Shays was

A) one of the authors of the Federalist Papers.
B) the primary architect of the New Jersey Plan.
C) the primary architect of the Virginia Plan.
D) a former army captain who led a mob of farmers in a rebellion against the government of Massachusetts.

Question 34

States like Delaware, Connecticut, and New York opposed the Virginia Plan because they

A) disliked the Bill of Rights that was contained within the Virginia Plan.
B) wanted to eliminate the state governments rather than give them the constitutional status suggested by the Virginia Plan.
C) wanted every plan for a new government to include a provision protecting the institution of slavery for at least 25 years, and the Virginia Plan did not contain such a provision.
D) feared that large states would dominate the new government if representation were to be determined by population, as stipulated by the Virginia Plan.

Question 35

According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were mostly concerned with

A) pursuing military glory and imperialism.
B) promoting their own economic interests.
C) creating a religious community.
D) creating a form of government that maximized popular sovereignty.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of the Annapolis Convention?

A) Delegates from all 13 states attended.
B) Delegates from nine states attended.
C) Delegates from five states attended.
D) The delegates passed amendments that strengthened the national government under the Articles of Confederation.

Question 37

The 1787 convention to draft a new Constitution was held in ________.

A) New York City
B) Philadelphia
C) Washington, D.C.
D) Richmond, Virginia

Question 38

While ________ delegates attended the Philadelphia convention in 1787, only ________ delegates ended up signing the newly drafted Constitution.

A) 25; 10
B) 55; 39
C) 75; 44
D) 435; 100

Question 39

Under the Articles of Confederation, the relationship between the states and the federal government can best be compared to

A) the United Nations' relationship with member states.
B) a state government's relationship with counties.
C) a state government's relationship with cities.
D) the United States' relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Question 40

The writing of the Constitution demonstrates the

A) marriage of interests and principles.
B) triumph of self-interest over the common good.
C) epitome of civic virtue.
D) triumph of the common good over self-interest.

Question 41

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called ________.

A) the electoral college
B) federalism
C) checks and balances
D) the separation of powers

Question 42

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

A) constitutional, elected, and appointed.
B) executive, legislative, and judicial.
C) federal, state, and local.
D) military, courts, and bureaucracy.

Question 43

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

A) representation would be equal for each state
B) representation would be based on population
C) representation would be proportionate to the share of taxes paid by each state to the federal government
D) representatives to Congress would be appointed by the state legislatures

Question 44

What is the term length of a federal judge?

A) two years
B) four years
C) six years
D) barring impeachment, life

Question 45

Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?

A) U.S. representative
B) U.S. senator
C) U.S. president
D) U.S. vice president

Question 46

The electoral college is

A) an expression of direct democracy.
B) designed to select the president of the United States.
C) the institution that originally selected U.S. senators.
D) the federal organization that oversees the operation of all elections held in the United States.

Question 47

Federal judges are appointed by the ________ and must be approved by the ________.

A) Senate; president
B) president; Senate
C) president; House of Representatives
D) president; Supreme Court

Question 48

Shays's Rebellion was an attempt to

A) prevent the state of Massachusetts from foreclosing on the lands of debt-ridden farmers.
B) invade New England by royalists from Canada.
C) bring a Georgian slave revolt to Virginia.
D) force the British government to rescind the Tea Act.

Question 49

During the Philadelphia convention, the New Jersey Plan was supported by ________.

A) less-populous states
B) slaveholding states
C) free states
D) southern states

Question 50

Direct election of senators was instituted with the

A) Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison.
B) ratification of the Constitution.
C) passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913.
D) passage of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in 1965.

Question 51

The primary goal of the Founders in writing the U.S. Constitution was to devise a system

A) consistent with the dominant philosophical and moral principles of the day, while also promoting commerce and protecting private property from radical state legislatures.
B) of direct democracy that maximized popular sovereignty.
C) that concentrated authority in one branch of government.
D) that ended slavery.

Question 52

In order to win concessions from large states at the Philadelphia convention, representatives from smaller states such as Delaware threatened to

A) boycott goods from large states.
B) ban travel across their borders.
C) form alliances with foreign nations.
D) create their own independent country.

Question 53

James Madison believed that the greatest conflict of interest in the Philadelphia convention was between ________ and ________.

A) large states; small states
B) northern states; southern states
C) the wealthy; the poor
D) Catholics; Protestants

Question 54

The president's power to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of ________.

A) separation of powers
B) federalism
C) checks and balances
D) civil liberties

Question 55

Shays's Rebellion was significant because it

A) convinced many observers that the government under the Articles of Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive.
B) started the Revolutionary War.
C) persuaded many colonists that slavery should be outlawed in the Constitution.
D) convinced Congress to approve the Louisiana Purchase.

Question 56

The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

A) Article I, Section 8
B) Article II, Section 1
C) Article III, Section 2
D) the Bill of Rights

Question 57

The American victory in the Revolutionary War changed the balance of political power in the new states so that royal land, office, and patent holders

A) became the controlling force in many state legislatures, and prerevolutionary radicals were significantly weakened.
B) were significantly weakened, and prerevolutionary radicals became the controlling forces in many state legislatures.
C) became the controlling force in many state legislatures, and royalists were placed in positions of power in the federal government.
D) were significantly weakened, and Native Americans were placed in positions of power in many states.

Question 58

Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the division of

A) the national government into two branches.
B) the powers of the executive branch between two individuals: the president and the vice president.
C) Congress into two chambers.
D) the federal court system into two levels: the Supreme Court and the appellate courts.

Question 59

The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.

A) New Jersey Plan
B) Connecticut Compromise
C) Delaware Deal
D) Virginia Plan

Question 60

Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?

A) It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South.
B) It allowed for a political agreement between large states and small states.
C) It permanently outlawed the slave trade.
D) It temporarily outlawed slavery.

Question 61

The delegates at the Philadelphia convention turned down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution because they believed that

A) such a list would limit economic development.
B) since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers, further protection of citizens was not needed.
C) citizens should vote directly on which rights should be protected.
D) such a list would make government too weak to protect national security.

Question 62

The framers designed the Senate to be a check against excessive democracy by doing which of the following?

A) Senators were originally appointed by state legislatures.
B) Senators have shorter terms than members of the House of Representatives.
C) Senators were directly elected by the people.
D) Senators are the only officials immune from impeachment.

Question 63

According to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the president has the power to ________.

A) officially recognize other nations
B) overrule federal judges
C) regulate commerce in the states
D) convene Congress in special session

Question 64

In order for the Constitution to be formally adopted, ________ of the ________ states in the Union had to agree to its terms.

A) 7; 13
B) 9; 13
C) 13; 13
D) 34; 50

Question 65

Which of the following possesses the sole power to create revenue bills?

A) the House of Representatives
B) the Senate
C) the president
D) the Treasury Department

Question 66

Judicial review is the power of

A) the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.
B) Congress to review the decisions of the federal courts.
C) the states to review the constitutionality of federal actions and laws.
D) the courts to review and edit pieces of legislation before they are voted on in Congress.

Question 67

The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to

A) prevent the new government from abusing its power.
B) end the slave trade.
C) create a replica of the British political system.
D) promote economic equality among all citizens.

Question 68

Only one-third of the Senate is up for re-election during any single election year because the framers believed that

A) too many elections would be difficult for the states to run.
B) this was a way to make the Senate resistant to popular pressure.
C) the state legislatures would conspire with each other to elect a Senate dominated by a single party.
D) this would make members of the Senate more responsive to the preferences of their constituents.

Question 69

Which two constitutional provisions have been at the heart of constitutional struggles between federal and state powers throughout American history?

A) the preamble and the elastic clause
B) the Eighteenth Amendment and the Twentieth Amendment
C) the Eighteenth Amendment and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment
D) the elastic clause and the Tenth Amendment

Question 70

The Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to

A) appoint judges.
B) receive ambassadors.
C) regulate interstate commerce.
D) abolish state boundaries.

Question 71

The framers attempted to reassure citizens that their views would be represented in the new government created by the Constitution by

A) allowing citizens to vote directly on all laws enacted by the federal government.
B) making the Constitution very easy to amend.
C) requiring the direct election of senators, members of the House, and the president.
D) defining the new government's most important powers, such as collecting taxes, borrowing money, and regulating commerce, as belonging to Congress.

Question 72

The decision to assign jurisdiction over controversies between citizens of different states to the Supreme Court was significant because it meant that

A) the federal judiciary, rather than the state courts, would ultimately become the primary venue for resolving disputes.
B) the state courts, rather than the federal judiciary, would ultimately become the primary venue for resolving disputes.
C) courts at both the state and federal levels would become irrelevant to the operating of the American political system.
D) the state courts would be allowed to use the power of judicial review on cases involving economic disputes.

Question 73

Which of the following is true about the U.S. Constitution?

A) The president is elected directly by the people.
B) The Constitution can be amended with a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress and a ratification vote by three-fourths of the states.
C) Federal judges are appointed by Congress for life.
D) Senators are elected directly by the people for 10-year terms.

Question 74

Which of the following statements about the House of Representatives and the Senate is true?

A) The Senate and the House have the power to ratify treaties.
B) The Senate and the House have the power to approve presidential appointments.
C) The House has the power to overturn a president's veto, while the Senate does not.
D) The House has the power to originate revenue bills, while the Senate does not.

Question 75

The power of judicial review was

A) asserted by the court in the case Marbury v. Madison.
B) explicitly assigned to the courts in Article III of the Constitution.
C) granted to the courts by the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789.
D) ceded to the courts by President Lincoln during the Civil War.

Question 76

The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of

A) completely dominating Congress.
B) withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
C) spending money with little interference from any other branch of government.
D) regulating all forms of commerce.

Question 77

The "comity" provision of Article IV of the Constitution was designed to promote national unity by

A) asserting that the federal Constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.
B) claiming that powers not explicitly delegated to the federal government were reserved for the states.
C) prohibiting state governments from discriminating against citizens of other states in favor of their own citizens.
D) outlawing government discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Question 78

In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the framers of the Constitution

A) included provisions for direct democracy in the Constitution.
B) included the full faith and credit clause in the Constitution.
C) included the elastic clause in the Constitution.
D) made it difficult to amend the Constitution.

Question 79

Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.

A) tyranny
B) democracy
C) a mixed regime
D) a republic

Question 80

The decision to give the national government control over interstate commerce and finance was motivated primarily by the framers' desire to

A) end slavery in the United States.
B) eliminate state and local governments.
C) promote economic development and protect property from radical state legislatures.
D) guarantee economic equality for all citizens.