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Know the necessary & proper clause, and what is this also referred to as?
Congress has the power to make laws that are necessary, elastic clause or coefficient clause.
Understand eminent domain
Government can take private property to use for public use. Ex. to build a school
What does it mean to be extradited?
Hand over a person who was accused or convicted of a crime to the jurisdiction of the foreign state in which the crime was committed.
Understand what a treaty is, who writes it, and who approves it?
Treaty is an agreement or arrangement made by negotiation, President, Senate
Define suffrage
The right to vote
Define and understand popular sovereignty
Government is based on the consent of the people.
Define ratification
Action of signing or giving verbal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement
What is a republic?
People elect and choose their leader.
Define federalism
Government shares power with the states.
New Jersey & Virginia Plans
New Jersey plan wanted equal representation for each state, Virginia plan wanted representation based on population
Why do we have a system of checks and balances?
So that there is balanced power in the government between all the branches.
Know what ran our country prior to the US Constitution, and why this failed
Articles of Confederation, the government couldn’t task and they had economic disorganization
Why was there a Constitutional Convention?
To address the problems of a weak central government due to the Articles of Confederation
How many states eventually ratified the US Constitution? Who was the last?
Nine. Rhode Island
All of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention generally agreed that _________.
Each house of Congress should be able to originate bills.
Anti-Federalist vs Federalist
Those who opposed the ratification of the constitution were Anti-Federalists and those who supported it were Federalists.
13th Amendment
Abolished Slavery
Freedoms listed in the 1st Amendment; define each
Speech-free to say whatever you want, Religion-freedom to worship whatever you want, Press-freedom to express through media, Assembly-freedom to form peaceful protests, Petition-freedom to petition government
How many articles & amendments in our Constitution?
7 articles and 27 amendments
19th Amendment
Women’s right to vote
How can a Constitutional Amendment be proposed?
2/3 approval in the senate and house of representatives, or a 2/3 requests of state legislatures to call a national convention.
What is primary responsibility of legislative, executive, and judicial branches? (Hint: they’re all different)
Legislative branch is in charge of making the laws, declare war, regulate commerce
Executive branch is responsible for enforcing the laws
Judicial Branch is responsible for the laws to be executed and solves disputes concerning the laws.
The first 10 amendments to our Constitution are called what?
Bill of Rights
How many branches of government does our country have?
3 branches of government
5th Amendment
Right to a grand jury, cannot get charged for the same crime twice.
The power to tax is given to what branch of government?
Legislative Branch
In what year(s) was our Constitution written?
1787
In the United States, what is the Supreme Law of the Land?
The Constitution
What is the 18th Amendment, and which amendment repealed this?
Prohibition, 21st Amendment
26th Amendment
Anyone above the age of 18 can vote.
What are the goals of our Constitution, and where are these listed?
Perfect Union, Establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty. The Preamble.
How is our Constitution organized?
Into 3 parts
What do the 1st three articles of our Constitution describe?
It establishes our branches of government.
What does the 1st Amendment protect?
The freedom of Speech, Religion, Press, Assembly, and Petition.
2nd, 3rd, and 4th Amendments
Right to bear arms, quartering of soldiers, protects from unreasonable searches and seizures
List the rights of the accused according to our Constitution
Rights to fast and speedy trial, be aware of criminal charges, confront witnesses during trial, witness appear in trial and right to legal representation.
What are reserved powers vs expressed powers
Express powers are powers expressed in the constitution, reserved powers are powers not expressed in the constitution
Terms of Senators and Representatives, and are they unlimited?
2 years for representatives and 6 for Senators. Yes unlimited
Powers of Congress under the Constitution
Make laws, declare war, impeach, approve treaties
Know how a bill becomes a law
Bill is introduced, goes to a committee, they vote, and goes to the other chamber. The same thing happens, then they both come together for an agreement, the president signs it or vetos.
Know how Senators and Reps are elected
Elected by the people.
Qualifications for US Representative
Age 25, citizen for 7 years
Qualifications for US Senator
30 years old, citizen for 9 years
# of Senators vs # of Representatives, and how each is determined
100 Senators, 435 Representatives. Based on state population for representation, 2 per state for senator
Reason behind staggered terms of US Senators (1/3 every 2 years)
To bring stability to the Senate.
Another name for the legislative branch of government
Congress
In an impeachment proceeding, who decided guilt or innocence of defendant?
Senate
What body can declare war? (according to our Constitution)
Congress
Who is the President of the Senate, and what is his/her primary responsibility in this capacity?
Vice President, power to break a tie in a vote
What are the checks that the judicial branch has over the legislative branch?
Can make declare laws unconstitutional
What are the checks that the executive branch has over the legislative branch?
Veto laws
After a President vetoes a bill, what can happen?
Congress can vote to override it
What is a pocket veto?
If the president takes too long to sign and congress isn’t in session the law will automatically veto.
What are Bills of Attainder, habeas corpus, and ex post facto laws?
Allow the government to punish a party for a perceived crime without first going through the trial process, requires police and other government officials to bring someone before a judge without holding them in jail while they look for evidence, Laws that criminalize actions that took place in the past before something became illegal.
Know what double jeopardy is
Can’t be prosecuted twice for the same crime
Bicameral vs unicameral legislature
Bicameral is a legislative body made of two chambers, unicameral is legislative body made of one chamber.
What is the Cabinet and are these positions listed in the Constitution?
Role of the Cabinet is to advise the President, not mentioned in the Constitution
Qualifications for US President
35 years old, US citizen, must have lived in US for 14 years
How long is a President’s term, and how many can he/she serve?
4 years, 2 terms
Who runs the executive branch of government?
The President
How is a President elected, and how many of these votes does he/she need to get?
President is elected by the people, 270 votes from the electoral college
How do we determine how many electors come from each state in a Presidential election?
Census
What are the roles of our President?
Chief Executive, Chief Administrator, commander in chief, foreign policy leader, chief agenda setter
What is the line of succession for the Presidency?
Vice President
How many electors are there in the electoral college?
538
Know judicial review
Ability of the court to declare a law unconstitutional
# of Supreme Court justices, and how that # was determined
9, nominated by president
What does our judicial branch consist of?
Supreme, Circuit, magistrate, and municipal courts
If you wanted to be on the US Supreme Court, how would you go about doing that?
The President has to nominate you
Understand the Tinker case
Decided that schools cannot censor students' speech unless it disrupts the educational process.
What document set up the framework for our federal court system?
Judiciary Act of 1789
Note 
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