Civics Exam

Virgina plan

A plan that called for 3 branches of government, a judicial, executive and legislature and the legislature based on population

immigrant

a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

alien

a person living in a country who is not a citizen of that country

What can aliens not do in the US?

Leave,

welfare

the health, prosperity, and happiness of the members of a community

Naturalization process requirements

Requirements: at least 18 years old and have been a permanent resident for at least 5 years (or 3 years if you are married to a U.S. citizen) and meet all other eligibility requirements.

Naturalization process steps

Complete the questionnaire on Form N-445, Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony.

responsibility of citizens

Respect and obey federal, state, and local laws. Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others. Participate in your local community. Pay income and other taxes honestly, and on time, to federal, state, and local authorities.

representitive Democracy

The United States is a representative democracy. This means that our government is elected by citizens. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. These officials represent the citizens' ideas and concerns in government.

Constitutional Monarchy

A King or Queen is the official head of state but power is limited by a constitution.

authoritarian regime

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.

Totalitarian

referring to a form of government in which one person or party holds absolute control

public policy

the principles, often unwritten, on which social laws are based.

ideology

a system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

socialism

A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.

theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

oligarchy

a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.

direct democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

republic

A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting

democracy

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

limited government

In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism

legislature

A group of people who have the power to make laws

social contract

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

Natural rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment - the great 'Age of Reason' - is defined as the period of rigorous scientific, political and philosophical discourse that characterised European society (17's-18's)

House of Burgesses

1619 - The Virginia House of Burgesses formed, the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt houses of burgesses.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia

Why did the English come to the Americas to settle in colonies?

To make money and get away from the king

dissenters

Protestants who differed with the Church of England

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Set up a unified government for the towns of the Connecticut area (Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield). First constitution written in America.

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

proclamation

an official public announcement

What led to the French & Indian War? Outcome?

British attempts to limit western expansion by colonists and inadvertent provocation of a major Indian war further angered the British subjects living in the American colonies. The British received Canada from France and Florida from Spain, but permitted France to keep its West Indian sugar islands and gave Louisiana to Spain.

smuggling

The act of illegally importing or exporting goods

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Sugar acts

In 1764 this act was meant to tighten enforcement of English customs by reducing the tax on molasses and increasing enforcement it was meant to raise revenue and marked the end of Salutary Neglect

Townshend Acts

A tax that the British Parliament passed in 1767 that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea

Boston tea party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Coercive Acts

This series of laws were very harsh laws that intended to make Massachusetts pay for its resistance. It also closed down the Boston Harbor until the Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruined tea. Also forced Bostonians to shelter soldiers in their own homes.

Thomas Paine

Wrote Common Sense

Thomas Jefferson

Wrote the Declaration of Independence

John Hancock

Patriot leader and president of the Second Continental Congress; first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Constitution

A written plan of government

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses

Confederation

A joining of several groups for a common purpose.

Articals of Confederation weaknesses

Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. There was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress. There was no national court system.

ordinance of 1785

law that set rules for surveying and selling land in the Northwest Territory

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

rule of law

No one is above the law

enumerated powers

Powers given to the national government alone

reserved powers

Powers given to the state government alone

conccurent powers

powers shared by the state and federal government

Shay's Rebellion (1786)

Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades.

New Jersey Plan

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

Great Comprimise (1787)

an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state

Fedralist

supporter of the Constitution, who favored a strong federal, or national, government.

Anti-Federalists

people who opposed the Constitution

What was the purpose of the federalist papers?

To gain support for the ratification of the Constitution.

How many amendments are there currently?

27 amendments

Legislative branch/What are they responsible for?

Power to make laws

Describes how members will be chosen/what laws Congress has to follow when making laws

Executive branch/What are they responsible for?

Carries out the laws and makes sure laws are obeyed

President is the head of this branch

President is the military-in-chief of the armed forces

Explains how leaders are elected

Judicial branch/What are they responsible for?

Made up of the Supreme Court and lower courts

Interpret laws, or decide what laws mean, make sure they are enforced fairly

civil liberties

Constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens

1st Amendment

Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition

2nd Amendment

Right to bear arms

3rd Amendment

No quartering of soldiers

4th Amendment

unreasonable searches and seizures

5th Amendment

The Right to Remain Silent/Double Jeopardy, right to due process

6th Amendment

Right to a speedy trial

7th Amendment

Right to trial by jury

8th Amendment

No cruel or unusual punishment

9th Amendment

Citizens entitled to rights not listed in the Constitution

10th Amendment

Powers Reserved to the States

13th Amendment

abolished slavery

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

15th Amendment

States cannot deny any person the right to vote because of race.

16th Amendment

Allows the federal government to collect income tax

19th Amendment

Gave women the right to vote

24th Amendment

No poll tax

Slander

False charges and malicious oral statements about someone

Libel

a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.

censorship

restricting access to ideas and information

indictment

A formal charge by a grand jury

probable cause

reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion

Search Warrents and who issues them?

Must be obtained by police before entering a private home/business. Orders are from a judge specifying who & what to be searched to find what evidence

double jepordy

the right that you will not be tried for the same crime twice

self-incrimination

testifying against oneself

eminent domain

Power of a government to take private property for public use.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS

a 1954 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" education for black and white students was unconstitutional

sit-ins

to protest at lunch counters that served only whites, African Americans students began staging this

Rosa parks

United States civil rights leader who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery (Alabama) and so triggered the national civil rights movement (born in 1913)

Martin Luther King Jr.

African American civil rights leader