Deck 2: The Constitution

Question 1

Who formed the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence in 1772?

A) John Hancock
B) Paul Revere
C) Patrick Henry
D) Samuel Adams
E) Benjamin Franklin

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In September 1774, all colonies sent delegates to the First Continental Congress EXCEPT

A) Delaware.
B) Georgia.
C) Rhode Island.
D) New York.
E) New Hampshire.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In the two-tiered system of colonial government in the early eighteenth century, which group had authority over day-to-day matters?

A) local officials and assemblies
B) Parliament
C) governors appointed by royal authority
D) the king
E) the British Cabinet

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of these dates marked the War for Independence?

A) 1756-1763
B) 1765-1775
C) 1770-1780
D) 1775-1783
E) 1776-1785

Question 5

The assembled delegates at the Second Continental Congress

A) called for a truce in the hostilities with the British.
B) demanded participation in Parliament's policy-making processes.
C) empowered Congress to function as an independent government.
D) appointed Samuel Adams to command the Continental Army.
E) adopted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances.

Question 6

Which of the following statements best describes the eighteenth-century colonists' desire for government by the people?

A) popular sovereignty
B) representational democracy
C) universal suffrage
D) government established to protect the people's liberties
E) a two-tiered system of government, with power split between Britain and the colonies

Question 7

Which of these countries employs an unwritten constitution?

A) the United States
B) Great Britain
C) Venezuela
D) Kenya
E) Germany

Question 8

How many foundational government bodies are described by the U.S. Constitution?

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

Question 9

Which group gained a monopoly over the tea trade after the passage of the Tea Act (1773)?

A) a shipping cartel led by John Hancock
B) the East India Tea Company
C) business interests connected to King George III
D) French and Dutch traders
E) Mohawk Indians

Question 10

The Sugar Act (1764) imposed tax increases on which of these commodities?

A) sugar
B) molasses
C) coffee
D) textiles
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 11

Indentured servants were those who worked for a number of years

A) for a master in America, then returned to Europe.
B) for a master in America who had paid for their passage.
C) for a master in America after being transported against their will.
D) in America, then gained access to land and other property.
E) for a master in America, then left for the Caribbean and Mexico.

Question 12

What repercussions followed the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773?

A) passage of the Coercive Acts
B) closure of the port of Boston
C) imposition of martial law
D) prohibition of the colonial assembly and town meetings
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 13

Which of the following chronologies is correct?

A) Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Declaratory Act, Townshend Duties Act
B) Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, Townshend Duties Act
C) Declaratory Act, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Duties Act
D) Sugar Act, Declaratory Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Duties Act
E) Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Duties Act

Question 14

In 1770, how many British soldiers were quartered among the 16,000 civilians living in Boston?

A) 400
B) 2,400
C) 4,000
D) 14,000
E) 20,000

Question 15

In the two-tiered system of colonial government in the early eighteenth century, which group had authority to enact laws that applied both to colonists and to people in Great Britain?

A) local officials and assemblies
B) Parliament
C) governors appointed by royal authority
D) the king
E) the British Cabinet

Question 16

According to Thomas Paine's Common Sense, ________ was the only option that would ensure American liberty and religious freedom.

A) diplomacy
B) civil disobedience
C) parliamentary representation
D) popular protest
E) war

Question 17

According to the Constitution,

A) the legislature enforces the law.
B) the executive makes the law.
C) the Supreme Court interprets the law.
D) the bureaucrats make the law.
E) interest groups shape the law.

Question 18

In 1768, the ________ colonial legislature petitioned King George III to repeal the Townshend Act.

A) New Hampshire
B) Virginia
C) Maryland
D) Massachusetts
E) Rhode Island

Question 19

Which of these features are contained within written constitutions?

A) mission statements
B) descriptions of foundational structures
C) identification of core bodies
D) details of essential operating procedures
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 20

The Seven Years' War was fought between

A) Britain and Holland.
B) Britain and Russia.
C) Britain and France.
D) Britain and Spain.
E) Britain and Portugal.

Question 21

Which of these states enacted state constitutions in 1777?

A) New York, Georgia, and Vermont
B) Georgia, Massachusetts, and Vermont
C) New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island
D) Connecticut, Georgia, and Rhode Island
E) Vermont, Georgia, and Massachusetts

Question 22

Which of the following chronological sequences of events is correct?

A) Boston Tea Party; First Continental Congress; Declaration of Independence
B) Shays's Rebellion; Annapolis Convention; Declaration of Independence
C) Declaration of Independence; Stamp Act; Philadelphia Convention
D) Articles of Confederation; Declaration of Independence; Annapolis Convention
E) First Continental Congress; Stamp Act; Articles of Confederation

Question 23

At Philadelphia, who proposed the Virginia Plan, which included a three-branch government?

A) James Madison
B) William Paterson
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) George Washington
E) John Hancock

Question 24

According to Article I of the Constitution, a proposed piece of legislation requires a ________ in both the House and Senate to become law.

A) simple majority of votes
B) three-fifths majority vote
C) two-thirds majority vote
D) three-quarters majority vote
E) unanimous vote

Question 25

Why were the new state constitutions revolutionary?

A) They were unwritten but strictly followed, unlike the English constitution.
B) They were the accumulation of laws written over time and based on customs and traditions.
C) They were adopted at a specific moment in time.
D) They established independence, yet still submitted to the rule of a king.
E) They lacked the specified principles and structures of previous constitutions.

Question 26

The writers of the Constitution devised the Electoral College as the method of choosing presidents because

A) direct election was impractical, due to the poor systems of communication and transportation that existed in the late 1700s.
B) the method would shield executive power from popular majorities and Congress.
C) the method guaranteed a majority winner.
D) the method would give weight to the preferences of ordinary people.
E) the framers had a great deal of faith in the wisdom of the masses.

Question 27

What issue led to the Three-Fifths Compromise?

A) states rights
B) individual liberty versus federal power
C) slavery
D) foreign treaties
E) disagreement over separation of powers

Question 28

According to Article II of the Constitution, which body of government checks the legislative authority of Congress?

A) the judiciary
B) the executive
C) the president of the Senate
D) the Electoral College
E) None of these answers is correct.

Question 29

Bicameral legislatures contain two separate parts, known as

A) departments.
B) chambers.
C) houses.
D) parliaments.
E) bodies.

Question 30

Shays's Rebellion

A) was a successful revolt.
B) convinced many political leaders that the national government was too powerful.
C) convinced many political leaders that the national government was not powerful enough.
D) reinforced public support for the Articles of Confederation.
E) occurred after the Philadelphia Convention of 1787.

Question 31

Which state, the only one to do so, saw citizen voters ratify their state constitution?

A) Georgia
B) Vermont
C) Rhode Island
D) Connecticut
E) Massachusetts

Question 32

Which of the following thinkers influenced the creation of the Declaration of Independence?

A) Thomas Paine
B) Thomas Hobbes
C) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D) John Locke and Thomas Paine
E) Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke

Question 33

How many governing bodies were created for the United States within the Articles of Confederation?

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

Question 34

Which of the following statements reflect the constitutional structure within the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789)?

A) Approval of policies and treaty ratification required nine affirmative votes.
B) State courts retained jurisdiction over most legal matters, except in cases of inter-state conflict.
C) State governments would implement and pay for congressionally-approved policies.
D) Any constitutional amendments required unanimous approval of all 13 states.
E) All these answers are correct.

Question 35

The Connecticut Compromise (or Great Compromise) produced

A) checks and balances.
B) the abolition of slavery.
C) a bicameral Congress.
D) separation of powers.
E) federalism.

Question 36

Which state was the only one of the following that did NOT send delegates to the Constitutional Convention on 1787?

A) New England
B) Rhode Island
C) New York
D) New Jersey
E) Maryland

Question 37

Under the original Constitution, Congress could not ban the slave trade until ________.

A) 1808
B) 1818
C) 1828
D) 1857
E) 1865

Question 38

Whose work, entitled The Spirit of the Laws (1748), provided the concept of separation of powers later adopted by the framers of the Constitution?

A) John Locke
B) Thomas Hobbes
C) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D) Baron de Montesquieu
E) François-Marie Arouet

Question 39

Which of the following is a central principle of the Declaration of Independence?

A) all men are equal
B) natural rights are derived from the consent of the governed
C) freedom is derived from the right to vote
D) all men must relinquish their inalienable rights to the authority of the sovereign
E) all men deserve the right to vote and gain parliamentary representation based on population numbers

Question 40

At the Second Continental Congress, who argued that "these united Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States"?

A) Richard Henry Lee
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Madison
D) Samuel Adams
E) John Hancock

Question 41

Marbury v. Madison is a landmark Supreme Court decision because it

A) established national supremacy.
B) set the precedent for judicial review.
C) defined the scope of state powers under the Tenth Amendment.
D) affirmed the necessary and proper clause.
E) helped to end Thomas Jefferson's political career.

Question 42

Discuss the chief issues of debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

Question 43

Outline the factors that led to increased friction between Britain and its North American colonial subjects during the eighteenth century.

Question 44

Identify the factors that encouraged the formation of the Continental Congress.

Question 45

Which article of the Constitution describes the process of constitutional ratification?

A) Article IV
B) Article V
C) Article VI
D) Article VII
E) Article VIII

Question 46

Outline the important features of the federal structure created by the Articles of Confederation.

Question 47

Discuss the formation of electors and the Electoral College, and discuss the role they play in the election of the president and vice president.

Question 48

How many amendments have actually been ratified by the states since 1789?

A) 23
B) 27
C) 29
D) 33
E) 35

Question 49

Explain and discuss the important features of the system of dual sovereignty.

Question 50

Identify and explain the features of executive power that the Constitution grants as checks on legislative power.

Question 51

Who among the following was considered, along with Thomas Jefferson, to be one of the most influential of the Anti-Federalists?

A) George Washington
B) Alexander Hamilton
C) Mercy Otis Warren
D) John Jay
E) James Madison

Question 52

Which constitutional amendment indicated that the list of already-included civil liberties in previous amendments was not exhaustive?

A) Sixth Amendment
B) Seventh Amendment
C) Eighth Amendment
D) Ninth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Question 53

Define what a constitution is, and compare and contrast the structures of written and unwritten constitutions.

Question 54

Discuss the intellectual origins of the Declaration of Independence.

Question 55

Article III of the Constitution describes the powers and structure of which of the following?

A) legislative branch
B) executive branch
C) judicial branch
D) state-to-state relations
E) the amendment process

Question 56

Identify the factors that have allowed for the continuous re-interpretation of the Constitution since its creation.

Question 57

What year saw the passage of the Bill of Rights?

A) 1787
B) 1789
C) 1791
D) 1793
E) 1795

Question 58

The Federalist Papers were written by

A) Washington, Adams, and Jefferson.
B) Madison, Hamilton, and Jay.
C) Marshall, Jefferson, and Madison.
D) Jefferson, Washington, and Madison.
E) Marshall, Jay, and Jefferson.

Question 59

Article ________ of the Constitution details the process of constitutional amendment.

A) IV
B) V
C) VI
D) VII
E) VIII

Question 60

How many proposed constitutional amendments have been introduced in Congress since 1789?

A) over 100
B) over 500
C) over 1,000
D) over 5,000
E) over 10,000