AP USGOV: Test 1

Review Questions

What were the Federalist Papers and who wrote them?

85 essays to defend the Constitution; Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay

What were the three provisions of the Great Compromise and by what other name is it known as?

A bicameral house [HoR (population and people) and Senate (equality and states)] and the 3/5 Compromise

Give me five examples of where the Constitution asks Congress for a 2/3 majority vote?

Override a veto, ratify amendments (both houses), ratify treaties (Senate), convict an impeachment, and expulsion from office

What is the Elastic Clause?

Congress can pass any law that is necessary and proper

What were three things that were done by the 2nd Continental Congress?

Wrote Articles of Confederation (AoC), wrote Declaration of Independence, wrote Olive Branch treaty, and elected Washington as President

What was the purpose of the Preamble?

To introduce the Constitution

What were the three major problems/weaknesses of the Articles?

Could not tax, regulate commerce, or have a standing army

What does Article IV of the Constitution discuss?

Full Faith and Credit Clause(states respect other states' public acts and records)

What economic convention was held in 1786 and how many states showed up?

Annapolis Convention; 5/13 states

What does Article V of the Constitution discuss?

Amendments

What were the 1st, 4th, and 9th states to ratify the Constitution?

Delaware, Georgia, and New Hampshire

What is the system of checks and balances?

A system that ensures no single branch of government becomes too powerful by allowing each branch to respond to the actions of the other branches

Give me three examples of checks and balances

The legislative branch can make laws, but the President can veto; the President is C-N-C, but the legislative branch can declare war; the judicial branch can interpret laws, but the President appoints the justices; etc.

What was the plan that called for three branches of government and a presidential veto

Virginia Plan

What was the main argument from the author of the most famous Anti-Federalist paper? What was it called?

Brutus; Robert Yates

What did the Great Compromise settle?

Representation in Congress

What were five powers of the national government under the AoC?

Treaties, post offices, have Indians, money, and army

Name four of the founding fathers (those who were present at Philadelphia).

Ben Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington

What are the two biggest reasons the Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution?

No Bill of Rights, and fears of a powerful centralized government

What two states did most believe the Constitution wouldn't work without and why did they finally join?

New York and Virginia; a Bill of Rights was eventually produced

The five member committee that wrote the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston

Locke believed in the protection of what three basic rights?

Life, liberty, and property

What was the most successful way that the colonists fought the Stamp Act?

Boycott

The original purpose of the Philadelphia Convention was?

To revise the AoC

Who wrote Federalist 10, and what was his underlying argument?

James Madison; factions

What does Article VI of the Constitution discuss?

Supremacy Clause (federal law prevails over all others)

What was the role of Alexander Hamilton and the Constitution and what state did he represent?

Ratification; New York

Name four famous Americans not at the Philadelphia Convention

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Sam Adams, John Hancock

What was the bottom line belief of Hobbs?

One ruler to protect the rights of everyone

What were the Intolerable Acts and why were they passed?

Closing the Boston Harbor and Martial Law (substitution of civil government by military officials); to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party

What was the significance of Shay's Rebellion?

Highlighted the need for a stronger central government and sent states to Philadelphia

Name three main points from Federalist 51

Separation of powers, checks and balances, and distinction of three branches

What state did not show up at the 1st Continental Congress, and what state did not show up at the Philadelphia Convention?

1st --> Georgia; Philadelphia --> Rhode Island

What was the process that brought developed into the Bill of Rights?

States sent 80 amendments to Congress, 12 was sent back from Congress, and the states approved 10

Which theory of representative democracy is it believed that only a few control the decisions with the government and who would they include? What theory says combination of the 1st theory and citizen involvement make the decisions?

Elitist theory; pleurist theory

What were the names and major differences between the two plans presented at Philadelphia?

Virginia --> James Madison, big, two houses, population

New Jersey --> William Paterson, small, one house, equality

Who are natural rights given to?

Everyone/the governed

What was the main theme of Federalist 10? Federalist 51? What did Brutus I force Madison and Hamilton to do when writing The Federalist?

Factions; Checks and Balances; defend the Constitution

What term is related to "We the People"?

Popular sovereignty

Why did the founding fathers create a system of Checks and Balances?

To prevent a branch from having too much power and to ensure that each branch is equal

What is Brutus I?

Evils of a strong central government including the Supremacy Clause, taxing power gives the federal government unlimited authority, and a standing army could lead to the "destruction of liberty"

The function of a government is to

Secure the blessings of liberty, promote the general welfare, and establish justice

A social contract theory of government was proposed by

Locke and Hobbs

Hobbes argued that the only protection for the rights of the weak in a polity was a/the

Single ruler

In general, _ did not agree on the preferred form of government

Social contract theorists

Indirect democracy is based on

Representation

The constitution has established equal protection of the laws through the

14th amendment

The idea that governments draw legitimacy and power from the governed is often referred to as

Popular consent

In 1765, the American colonists initiated a major protest against the

Stamp Act

The 1st Continental Congress was called in opposition to the

Intolerable Acts

At the 1st Continental Congress, there were delegates from

Every colony except Georgia

In 1776, Thomas Paine issued a pamphlet arguing for colonial independence from Britain, titled

Common Sense

A type of government in which the national government in weaker than the sum of its part is called

Confederacy

Under the political system established in 1781, the national government

Could not reach a quorum of nine states regularly, did not have the power to tax, and was not allowed to regulate commerce among the states

Under the AoC, the executive branch was

Virtually nonexistent

The Virginia Plan called for a national system with

A strong central government and a bicameral legislation

The smaller states presented a plan at the Constitutional Convention advocating for strengthening the AoC. The plan was presented by

William Paterson

The most serious disagreement in the debate between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention was the issue of

Representation in Congress

A committee was appointed at the Convention to work the differences between the two plans; the result was

Connecticut Plan

The Committee on Unfinished Portions was tasked with ironing out problems concerning

The executive branch and smaller details of service

The electoral college system for electing the president was designed to give

Average voters the decisive power in choosing the President

The sole responsibility to try a president or vice president with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" falls to the

Senate

The last section of the Constitution to be drafted was

The Preamble

The division of powers among the three branches of government is called

Separation of Powers

A government structure that gives each of the three branches some degree of oversight and control of each other is called

Checks and Balances

Originally, the Constitution placed the selection of senators

Directly with the state legislatures

Once the Convention was completed, the drive for ratification in the states began. Those who favored ratification were known as

Federalists

T/F: In the 1700's, voting in the US was largely limited to property-owning white males

True

T/F: Only governments can legitimately use force to keep public order

True

T/F: American society is based on rule of law

True

T/F: John Locke wrote Leviathan, in which he advocated strong government

False; written by Hobbes

T/F: Majority rule means that the majority of votes are required to elect officials and determine policies

True

T/F: The term "republic" is often used interchangeably with "democracy"

True

T/F: The AoC was failing due to an inability to pay war debts and taxes and conduct general business

True

T/F: Separation of powers was designed to constrain the powers of government

True

T/F: The new Constitution would be considered ratified and legal upon the approval of the states of Virginia and New York

False; ratified with the approval of 9/13 states

Articles (7)

I

Legislative branch (powers to regulate commerce and elastic clause)

II

Executive branch (president, negotiate treaties, and electoral college)

III

Judicial branch (Supreme Court)

IV

Relatives of Articles (states, Full Faith and Credit Clause, states learn to cooperate)

V

Amendments (how to amend the Constitution)

VI

Supremacy Clause ("highest law of the land")

VII

Ratification (9/13 states must ratify)

Amendments (27)

1st

Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

2nd

Right to bear arms

3rd

No quartering of soldiers

4th

Protection from unreasonable search and seizure

5th

Protection from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, due process, grand jury, eminent domain

6th

Trial by jury, right to a lawyer, and a speedy and public trial

7th

Juries for civil cases

8th

Protection from cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail

9th

Unenumerated rights

10th

Powers reserved to the states

11th

Lawsuits against states

12th

Reforms to the electoral college

13th

Abolition of slavery