Chapter 2 Bell Ringer

constitution

A document that defines and creates a people politically, sets out the fundamental principles of governance, and creates the rules and institutions through which a people choose to self-govern is defined as a ______.

unrestricted until at least 1808

According to the original wording of the Constitution, slavery was ______.

a strong president that would serve for life

Alexander Hamilton proposed ______.

two-stage

Amending the Constitution is a ______ process.

True

Americans would refer to "These United States..." rather than "The United States," demonstrating a desire to maintain strong states' rights.

some form of tyranny

Anti-federalists and federalists both feared ______.

Bill of Rights

Anti-federalists called for a ______ to be included in the Constitution.

the threat of aristocratic leaders

Antifederalist writer Mercy Otis Warren warned against ______.

carry out laws passed by Congress

As chief executive, the president's responsibility is to ______.

13

Changing or amending the Articles required the approval of ______ states.

the promise of the government to pay its debts

Congressional currency, known as the continental, was backed by ______.

the New Jersey Plan

Delegates from smaller states proposed which of the following?

Supreme Court

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention decided that judicial power should be held by the ______.

government mistrust

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress had to confront issues that involved the problem of ______.

fix the Articles of Confederation as necessary

Delegates who had been sent to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were specifically authorized to ______.

James Madison was one of the only Founding Fathers NOT to own slaves.

False

Like George Washington, James Madison freed his slaves upon his death.

False

One Native American was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

False

The president has unlimited power over the actions of Congress.

False

supporting the new Constitution and a strong national government

Federalists called for ______.

the Federalist Papers

Federalists made their strongest theoretical case for the new republic in a set of eighty-five essays known as ______.

practical, tactical, and strategic men

Given the events at Annapolis and Philadelphia in 1786 and 1787, the best characterization of the Founders of the American Republic is that they were ______.

republics

Governments that are ruled by representatives who are elected by the people they represent are best described as ______.

inequality of wealth

In Federalist 10, James Madison argued that ______ is the main driver of factionalization.

announce and justify their separation from Great Britain; create a new nation

In comparing the Declaration of Independence to the U.S. Constitution, the authors of the Declaration felt the need to ______, while the framers of the Constitution sought to ______.

False

In drawing the powers of each of the three branches, it is clear that Congress intended for the executive branch to exert power over the others.

made its own money

In order to get around its lack of money and its inability to borrow from foreign nations, Congress ______.

federal district courts

In order to hear and decide federal cases, the judicial branch created by the Constitution included a system of ______.

slavery; equal representation

In response to the Articles of Confederation, some Southern states feared the restriction of ______, while the smaller states feared losing their ______.

changes in the fundamental structure of the American government

In the minds of Madison and those who shared his views, the hope was that the Annapolis Convention might lead to ______.

financial crisis, the fear of foreign invasion, and the threat of internal discord

In the years following the revolution, the American states and the government they created struggled against ______.

regulators

Indebted farmers who focused their protests and attentions on the courts in order to stall or forgo bankruptcy proceedings against their land in 1786 were known as ______.

states

It was NOT unnatural at the time of the Second Continental Congress to envision a government in which ______ was/were the real center(s) of power.

The skills and intellect of which of the following men were perhaps most important in the creation of the Constitution?

James Madison

the death of republics

James Madison researched which of the following topics prior to the Grand Convention?

factions

James Madison was concerned about groups of people who would collectively try to use the government to get what they wanted. He called these groups ______.

political scientists

James Madison was one of America's first ______.

False

John Adams was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

determine if a law, part of a law, or an act of government is in violation of the Constitution

Judicial review gives the judicial branch of government the authority to ______.

strong enough to govern without threatening individual rights

Madison, together with a group of similarly practical men, sought to create a republic that would be ______.

logroll

Many experts argue that the preservation of slavery was the result of a trading of votes known as a ______.

True

One of the most important divisions during the Constitutional Convention was over the issue of slavery.

fear of domestic and foreign crises

Proponents of the new government seized on which of the following to push their agenda forward?

Which state refused to send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia?

Rhode Island

equal representation

Smaller states supported a government that favored ______.

True

States selected their representatives to the unicameral legislature and could choose the number of representatives they sent under the Articles of Confederation.

federalists; anti-federalists

Supporters of the Constitution were known as ______ and opponents to the Constitution were called ______.

ensure that states recognized the contracts and legal proceedings of other states

The "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution was intended to ______.

False

The Constitution is written so as to make it easy to amend it by popular vote.

a combination of equal and proportional representation

The Great Compromise established which of the following forms of government?

slaves

The Three-Fifths Compromise counted which of the following as three fifths of a persons for purposes of Congressional representation?

white residents of slaveholding states

The Three-Fifths Compromise favored which group of people the most?

True

The Virginia Plan laid out a strong national government, while the New Jersey Plan called for a weak one.

unicameral

The confederal government was ______.

blueprint for a new government

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention would see the new document they created as a(n) ______.

separation of powers

The distribution of powers across institutions including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches is known as ______.

checks and balances

The doctrine of separation of powers is popularly known as ______.

confederation

The first form of American government was a ______.

Shay's Rebellion

The grassroots popular uprising against state government in Massachusetts, which added a sense of urgency to elites, was called ______.

what kind of change?

The main question for those who called for political change in America's early history was ______.

western lands

The most acrimonious disagreements between colonies were over control of ______.

how states would be represented

The most contentious issue of the Constitutional Convention was ______.

Pennsylvania

The most democratic of the state constitutions in 1787 was that of ______.

a small subset of elites

The movement to amend and to replace the Articles of Confederation in 1786 was led by ______.

elites

The one social factor that all of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had in common was that they were all ______.

False

The power of judicial review was explicitly granted to the judicial branch in the Constitution.

the commerce and the necessary-and-proper clauses

The powers embodied in which of the following strengthened the Congress vis-à-vis under the confederal system?

votes in the Electoral College

The president is elected by which of the following methods?

economic and political

The roots of the rebellion in Massachusetts were ______.

True

The term "federalist" was chosen ironically by Constitutional supporters because it generally meant more of a balance between the power of states and the national government.

balance of political power

The vital change that took place between 1776 and 1787 was in the ______.

a large number of citizens use their power to trample on the rights of smaller groups

Tyranny of the minority occurs when ______.

selected their representatives and chose the number of representatives they sent

Under the Articles of Confederation, states ______.

2

Under the Great Compromise, each state would be allowed ______ representatives in the Senate.

strong national government with a bicameral legislature using proportional representation in both houses

Virginia's delegation recommended a plan for representation that created a ______.

It failed to rectify any of the issues for which the convention had been called.

What criticism did James Madison level at the New Jersey Plan?

Republican governments function best when the wishes of the people are taken into account at all times.

Which foundational concept about politics, based on his studies of previous republics, informed James Madison's thinking when co-authoring The Federalist Papers?

Shays commanded the largest regiment of the rebels and notably served in the American Revolution.

Which of the following accurately describes the role Daniel Shays played in the 1786 rebellion that bears his name?

Shays commanded the largest regiment of the rebels and notably served in the American Revolution.

Which of the following accurately describes the role Daniel Shays played in the 1786 rebellion that bears his name? Selected Answer:

It existed primarily to resolve disputes between states and had no enforcement power.

Which of the following best describes the judicial branch under the Articles of Confederation?

a group of disparate peoples who mistrusted others

Which of the following describes the situation of the thirteen British colonies by the 1770s?

the U.S. Constitution

Which of the following is superior to the others?

Thomas Jefferson

Which of the following men was NOT a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention?

how to ensure the republic would survive

Which of the following political issues concerned James Madison the most in 1786 and 1787?

James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton

Which triumvirate authored The Federalist Papers in 1787 and 1788?

Alexander Hamilton; Patrick Henry

While ______ was one of the greatest proponents of a strong national government, ______ would serve as one of its greatest opponents.

people

While small states wanted the states themselves to approve new constitutional amendments, the nationalists wanted the ______ to decide.

Governor Morris

Who originally penned the words "We the people..."?

Alexander Hamilton

Who proposed that the presidency be clothed in so much authority that basically the office created a kingship?

James Madison, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson had which of the following in common?

a tradition of slave ownership

During the debates over the Articles in the Second Continental Congress, mistrust of other colonies crystallized in conflicts over ______.

land, representation, and sovereignty

The purpose of Congress was to ______.

make laws

Madison's immediate concern in the spring of 1786 was ______.

preparing for the convention in Annapolis

Madison's years of preparation allowed him to ______.

shape the agenda of debates