Study Guide: Unit 2 - The U.S. Constitution

What is the power of each branch of government

Legislative: Making the country’s laws

 

  Executive: Enforcing the laws

 

  Judicial: Interpreting the laws

Describe the Amendment Process

Proposal and ratification

How many total amendments are there to the Constitution currently

27

Define the six Key Principles of American Government

Popular sovereignty: People hold all the power

 

  Federalism: The division of power between a central government and state governments

 

  Judicial review: The Supreme Court has the power to decide if laws are Constitutional

 

  Separation of powers: The divison of federal or state power into 3 branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial

 

  Checks and balances: The ability of each branch to check or balance out an action of another branch

 

  Limited government: Government power is limited to what the people allow it to do. The government has to follow the law. No one in the government is above the law

What a the difference between Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Federalist - The federalists supported the Constitution and wanted a stringer national government

 

  Anti-Federalist - The Anti-Federalists opposed a Constitution because they wanted more power to remain with the states

What does the Preamble and the first three Articles do

Preamble: The Premable introduces the Constitution and explains it's purpose, while the first three articles establish the three branches of government and their powers

Fill in the blank… and then describe their function based on the U.S Constitution…

Article One: (The Legislative Branch)

 

  Article Two: (The Executive Branch)

 

  Article Three: (The Judicial Branch)

Be able to explain these two compromises during the writing of the Constitution.

Great Compromise: Two chambers in Congress: The Senate and The House of Representatives. The Senate would be based on equal representation for each state and the House based on population

 

  3/5th Compromise: Slaves count as ⅗ of a person in a state’s population

Know the difference between implied, excessive, and inherent powers

Implied: Delegated powers of the National Government that are suggested by the expressed powers

 

  Expressed: Delegated powers of the National Government that are spelled out expressly in the Constitution

 

  Inherent: Powers delegated to the National Government because it's the government of a sovereign state within the world community

What does the Supremacy Claude say

Declares that federal law, including the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties, is the supreme law of the land.

What does “bicameral” mean?

Having two branches or chambers

What document did the Constitution replace?

The Articles of Confederation