Complete FAU Civic Literacy Exam Review

First Amendment

Provides the rights to free exercise of religion, assembly, petition, and speech.

Declaration of Independence

The document that outlines the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Order of Succession

The path of power if the president cannot serve: Vice President, then Speaker of the House.

U.S. Senator

A representative elected for a six-year term; there are two from each state.

House of Representatives

The congressional body with 435 voting members who serve two-year terms.

Commander in Chief

The role of the President as leader of the military.

John Roberts Jr.

The current Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court mentioned in the lecture.

State Powers

Powers including providing education, safety (police/fire), licensures, and zoning.

Printing Money

A specific power reserved for the federal government.

Thirteenth Amendment

The amendment that abolished slavery.

Fifth Amendment

Protects against double jeopardy and self-incrimination, and ensures due process and just compensation.

Petition the Government

A right held by anyone living in the US regardless of citizenship status.

Amendment Ratification

Processed by being proposed by two-thirds of Congress or states and ratified by three-fourths of the states.

Taxation without Representation

A primary reason the colonists fought the British and declared independence.

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence and the third US President.

Benjamin Franklin

Known for being the first Postmaster General, starting free libraries, and serving as a diplomat.

Susan B. Anthony

A historical figure best known for fighting for women's rights.

Woodrow Wilson

The President of the United States during World War I.

Communism

The main concern of the United States during the Cold War.

Miranda v. Arizona

The case that guaranteed the right to remain silent and have an attorney present during questioning.

Supremacy Clause

Establishes that federal laws are the supreme laws of the land and supersede state laws.

Dred Scott versus Sanford

An 1857 ruling that declared Dred Scott was property and not a citizen, and found that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery, thereby nullifying the Missouri Compromise.

Missouri Compromise

An 1820 law that determined the boundaries for free and slave states, which was later declared unconstitutional by the Dred Scott decision.

Plessy versus Ferguson

An 1890 case involving the Louisiana Separate Railcar Act which upheld racial segregation under the separate but equal doctrine of the Constitution.

Separate but equal doctrine

A legal principle from Plessy versus Ferguson stating that racial segregation was constitutional as long as the separate facilities provided were equivalent.

Brown versus Board of Education

A landmark 1950s case that overturned Plessy versus Ferguson, ruling that separate but equal facilities violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and initiating school desegregation.

Regents of the University of California versus Bakke

A 1970s case ruling that strict racial quotas in admissions are unconstitutional, although race can still be considered as one of many factors.

Bush versus Gore

A case regarding the 2000 election which determined that using different standards to count votes in Florida violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission

A 2010 case ruling that political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment and that the government cannot stop corporations or unions from spending money on political broadcasts.

Engel versus Vital

A 1960s ruling that school-initiated, non-denominational prayer in the public school system is a violation of the First Amendment's freedom of religion.

West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnett

A 1940s case ruling that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Texas versus Johnson

An 1980s case ruling that burning an American flag is a form of symbolic speech protected under the First Amendment.

Tinker versus Des Moines

A Vietnam War era case ruling that students wearing black armbands in school as a symbolic protest is protected speech, stating students do not shed rights at the schoolhouse gate.

Hazelwood versus Kullmeyer

A case ruling that for legitimate pedagogical concerns, school administrations have the right to censor student-run newspapers.

DC versus Heller

A Second Amendment case that struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia, protecting an individual's right to possess a firearm for self-defense within the home.

Mapp versus Ohio

A Fourth Amendment case ruling that evidence obtained through an illegal search and seizure without a proper warrant is inadmissible in court.

New Jersey versus TLO

A case ruling that school officials only need reasonable suspicion, rather than a warrant, to conduct searches of students on school property.

Miranda versus Arizona

A case that established 'Miranda rights,' requiring police to inform suspects of their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.

Gideon versus Wainwright

A case ruling that the Sixth Amendment requires courts to provide an attorney for criminal defendants who cannot afford one.

Public defender's office

State-funded divisions of the court system created following Gideon versus Wainwright to provide counsel for those unable to afford private attorneys.

Roe versus Wade

A 1973 case ruling that individual states cannot prohibit first-trimester abortions.

Korematsu versus United States

A 1944 case ruling that the relocation of Japanese American citizens to internment camps was constitutional because the need to protect the country took priority over individual rights.

Marbury versus Madison

A landmark case that established the principle of judicial review and confirmed the Constitution as the supreme law of the land under the Supremacy Clause.

Judicial review

The power of the Supreme Court to review and rule on the constitutionality of various elements of the government or state laws.

Gibbons versus Ogden

A case regarding steamboat monopolies that determined the Commerce Clause allows the federal government to regulate interstate commerce.

McCulloch versus Maryland

A ruling that Congress has implied powers to carry out its duties, such as creating a national bank, and that states cannot tax the federal government.

US versus Nixon

A case ruling that executive privilege is not limitless and that the President is not above the law, often referred to as the rule of law.

13 Original Colonies

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Mayflower Compact

An original form of self-government created by the colonists, though they remained bound by the rules of Great Britain.

Quartering

The forced housing of British soldiers in the private homes of colonists, a practice later prohibited by the Third Amendment.

Common Sense

A set of pamphlets written by Thomas Paine to convince colonists to declare independence and break from British rule.

Declaration of Independence

A document signed on $07/04/1776$ that announced the colonies' independence from Great Britain, primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson.

Unalienable Rights

Rights given to each person at birth that no one can take away, defined in the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Articles of Confederation

The original plan for government in the United States that failed because it created a weak central government and gave too much power to the states.

U.S. Constitution

The supreme law of the land, written in $1787$ and ratified in $1789$, which established the structure of the American government.

Federalism

A concept of government that establishes a balance of powers between state and federal (national) governments.

We the People

The first three words of the Preamble of the Constitution, establishing the concept of self-government.

Rule of Law

The principle that no person or group is above the law, and everyone, including leaders, must follow the law.

Federalist Papers

A series of $85$ essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pen name Publius to support the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Amendment

A change or addition to the U.S. Constitution; currently, there are $27$ total amendments.

Bill of Rights

The first $10$ amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in $1791$ to protect the rights of citizens.

Free Exercise Clause

Part of the First Amendment stating that anyone in the United States has the right to practice any religion they choose or no religion at all.

Eminent Domain

The right of the government to take private land for public use, provided they fairly compensate the landowner, established in the Fifth Amendment.

Due Process

Legal requirements in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments ensuring fair and equitable treatment through a set process for all individuals.

Double Jeopardy

A Fifth Amendment protection that prevents a person from being tried twice for the same crime after being acquitted.

Elastic Clause

Also known as the Necessary and Proper Clause, it allows the federal government to stretch its powers to carry out functions required by the Constitution.

Thirteenth Amendment

The amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States.

Fourteenth Amendment

An amendment that defined citizenship, established the Equal Protection Clause, and applied due process to the states.

Twenty-second Amendment

The amendment that limited the President of the United States to being elected for a maximum of two terms.

Poll Tax

A fee required for voting, which was made illegal by the Twenty-fourth Amendment to prevent discrimination against low-income and minority voters.

Capitalist Economy

The economic system of the United States where most businesses are privately owned and supply and demand determines production and prices.

Louisiana Purchase

A transaction in $1803$ where the United States purchased land from France for $\$15,000,000$, doubling the size of the country.

Selective Service

A requirement for all male US citizens between the ages of $18$ and $26$ to register for possible military draft.

Legislative Branch

The branch of government (Congress) responsible for making federal laws, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Executive Branch

The branch of government consisting of the President, Vice President, and Cabinet responsible for enforcing laws.

Judicial Branch

The branch of government (the Supreme Court and other federal courts) that decides if laws and actions follow the Constitution.

Bicameral

A term describing a legislature with two houses; the U.S. Congress is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Electoral College

The system used in the United States to elect the President, where people vote for electors who then vote for the President.