Undergraduate Examination: The United States Constitution

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, historical dates, constitutional articles, powers, and amendments from the Undergraduate Examination on The United States Constitution.

Declaration of Independence

Document principally drafted by Thomas Jefferson and unanimously adopted by the Second Constitutional Congress on July 4, 1776.

Articles of Confederation (Proposal)

Governing framework proposed to the 13 Colonies by the Second Continental Congress after being finalized on November 15, 1777.

Articles of Confederation (Adoption)

Governing document officially adopted by all 13 Colonies by March 1, 1781.

Failings of the Articles of Confederation

Four major shortcomings: the central government lacked the power to tax, lacked the power to regulate trade, created neither an executive nor judicial branch, and required unanimity to amend.

U.S. Constitution (Proposal Date)

The founding document signed and proposed on September 17, 1787.

U.S. Constitution (Effective Date and Ratification)

Became effective on March 4, 1789, after requiring the affirmative votes of 9 of the original colonies; all 13 colonies eventually voted to ratify it.

House of Representatives

Congressional body currently made up of 435 members serving 2-year terms, with all members standing for election every two years.

United States Senate

Congressional body made up of 100 members (two per state) serving 6-year terms, with elections staggered so that only $\frac{1}{3}$ of the Senate stands for election every two years.

Representative Eligibility Requirements

Constitutional rules requiring a candidate to be 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for seven years, and an inhabitant of the state in which she will be chosen.

Speaker of the House

The presiding leadership position associated specifically with the House of Representatives.

Impeachment (Sole Power to Impeach)

The sole authority to initiate impeachment proceedings, vested exclusively in the House of Representatives.

Senator Eligibility Requirements

Constitutional rules requiring a candidate to be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States for 9 years, and an inhabitant of the State for which she shall be chosen.

President of the Senate

Presiding officer role filled by the Vice-President, who is entitled to vote only in the event that the Senate is equally divided.

Impeachment Trial (Senate Role)

The sole authority vested in the Senate to try all impeachment proceedings, requiring an affirmative vote of 67 Senators to secure a conviction.

Presiding Officer for Presidential Impeachment

The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, who presides over impeachment proceedings when the President of the United States is the defendant.

Congressional Quorum

The minimum attendance necessary to conduct official business, defined as a majority of each house.

Origination Clause

Constitutional requirement specifying that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.

Presidential Veto Override

The legislative procedure requiring a $\frac{2}{3}$ vote of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to overcome a presidential veto.

Article I, Section 8 Powers

Enumerates 18 powers of Congress, including laying taxes, borrowing money, regulating commerce, coining money, establishing post offices, granting patents, creating tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court, declaring war, raising armies and a navy, calling the militia, and making necessary and proper laws.

Article I, Section 9 (Slave Trade)

Constitutional provision allowing Congress to impose a tax or duty not exceeding $\$10$ on imported enslaved persons, while barring Congress from prohibiting the slave trade entirely prior to 1808.

Writ of Habeas Corpus (Suspension)

Privilege that may only be suspended by Congress when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

Bill of Attainder

A legislative act that declares a person or a group of people guilty of a crime without a trial.

Ex Post Facto Law

A law that makes prior conduct retroactively illegal.

State Export Tax Prohibition

Constitutional restriction denying Congress the power to tax the exports of the States.

Article II of the Constitution

Constitutional section that vests executive power in the President of the United States for a term length of four years.

Presidential Eligibility Requirements

Mandates that a candidate must have been born a U.S. Citizen, be at least 35 years old, and have been 14 years a resident of the United States.

Commander in Chief (State Militias)

Role of the President as Commander in Chief over state militias, applicable only when the militias have been called into the actual service of the United States.

Treaty Approval Process

Procedure whereby the President negotiates foreign treaties, which must subsequently be approved by a $\frac{2}{3}$ vote of the Senate.

Presidential Removal Standard

Standard requiring that the President shall be removed from office if impeached and convicted of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article III of the Constitution

Constitutional provision that vests judicial power in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.

Federal Judicial Tenure

Appointment of federal judges during good behavior, which means for life.

Original Jurisdiction (Supreme Court)

Trial court authority of first resort held by the Supreme Court in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party.

Full Faith and Credit Clause

The common title for Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

Privileges and Immunities Clause

The common title for Article IV, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

Admission of New States (Legislative Consent)

Constitutional requirement that legislatures of implicated States consent when a new state is formed within an existing State, by the junction of two or more States, or by parts of States.

Constitutional Amendment Process

Procedure requiring a $\frac{2}{3}$ vote of both the House and the Senate to propose, followed by ratification by $\frac{3}{4}$ of the States to become effective.

First Amendment

Prohibits the establishment of a religion, protects the free exercise of religion, protects free speech, the press, free assembly, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.

Second Amendment

Protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

Third Amendment

Protects against the quartering of troops without the consent of the owner.

Fourth Amendment (Search Warrants)

Mandates that warrants require probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched or the persons or things to be seized.

Fifth Amendment

Protects the right to a grand jury for capital offenses, prohibits double jeopardy, protects against self-incrimination, bars deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, and protects against takings for public use without just compensation.

Sixth Amendment

Protects rights to a speedy and public trial, a local jury, notice of accusations, confronting adverse witnesses, subpoenaing favorable witnesses, and the right to counsel.

Seventh Amendment

Protects the right to trial by jury in civil matters.

Eighth Amendment

Forbids excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments.

Twelfth Amendment

Resolved the issue of Presidents and Vice-Presidents coming from opposing parties by providing distinct ballots for the elections of President and Vice-President.

Thirteenth Amendment

Constitutional amendment that outlawed both slavery and indentured servitude.

Fourteenth Amendment (Section 1)

Grants citizenship to persons born or naturalized in the U.S., bars states from abridging privileges and immunities, prevents deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process, and forbids denying equal protection of the laws.

Fifteenth Amendment

Protects the right to vote from abridgment on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Eighteenth Amendment

Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, into, or out of the United States and its territories.

Nineteenth Amendment

Protected the right to vote from abridgment on the basis of sex.

Twenty-First Amendment

Constitutional amendment that repealed the Eighteenth Amendment.

Twenty-Second Amendment

Establishes that the longest period a person can serve as President is 10 years, calculated as not more than two years as successor plus two elected terms.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment (Section 4)

Mandates that the Vice-President assumes powers as Acting President when the Vice-President and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments transmit a written declaration of the President's inability to discharge office duties.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Protects the right to vote of individuals 18 years and older.