US Constitution Test

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