Chapter 2 American Government

In the Senate, the States would be represented equally. In the House, the States would be represented based on population.

This chart shows one main feature of the Connecticut Compromise. What was the compromise's other main feature?

The Federalists believed that similarities of the people in the United States was a source of strength and should be further strengthened by a strong national government.

Use the excerpt from The Federalist essays to answer the question. "[A] people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who . . . have nobly established general liberty and independence.This country and this people seem to have been made for each other . . . united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties" —The Federalist No. 2, John Jay Based on this excerpt, which statement best describes the Federalist view of the proposed Constitution?

the social contract

Use the excerpt to answer the question. ...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." —The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America To what concept of government does this excerpt refer?

met to address the Articles of Confederation but ended up creating a new form of government.

Use the quotation to answer the question. ". . . it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several States be held in Philadelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. . . ." —The Continental Congress, 1787 This quotation is historically significant because at this meeting, the Framers

Laws actually make people more, not less, free.

Use the quotation to answer the question. "The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom." —John Locke, The Second Treatise of Government, 1690 Which statement BEST reflects Locke's meaning?

The thirteen colonies should work together to better their chance of success of winning independence from Great Britain.

Use the quotation to answer the question. "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." —Benjamin Franklin What message was Franklin trying to convey to the Second Continental Congress when he spoke these words?

The conflicts with Britain were slowly uniting the colonies.

Use these excerpts from the text to answer the question. "In October of 1765, nine colonies—all except Georgia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Virginia—sent delegates to a meeting in New York, the Stamp Act Congress." "Delegates from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. . . . For nearly two months, the members of that First Continental Congress discussed the worsening situation and debated plans for action." What does the difference in the number of colonies that sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress versus the First Continental Congress indicate about what was happening in the colonies?

The king needed the consent of Parliament in order to tax people.

Use this excerpt from the English Bill of Rights to answer the question. "...that the pretended power of suspending the laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of Parliament is illegal...that levying money for or to the use of the Crown... without grant of Parliament...is illegal...that it is the right of the subjects to petition the king... and that prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal..." —English Bill of Rights Which of the following ideas is embodied in this excerpt?

the right to due process

Use this excerpt from the text to answer the question. "John Adams, a rising lawyer in Boston, was also present [at the First Continental Congress]. Adams had defended the British officers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, despite his opposition to British colonial policies. By the time of the First Continental Congress, he had become a staunch supporter of independence as well as a brilliant political analyst." By making sure the British officers got a fair trial, Adams upheld which cornerstone of English law?

The population of a State was a major factor.

Use this excerpt from the text to answer the question. "The Virginia Plan set the agenda for much of the convention's work. Its major support came from the three most populous States: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. But some delegates—especially those from New York (then only the fifth most populous State) and the smaller States of Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey—found it too radical. Soon they developed their counterproposals." What does this suggest was an important factor in determining how alliances among convention delegates were formed?

Franklin initially had some doubts about the ability of the delegates to create a government but eventually came to see a bright future for the new country.

Use this excerpt to answer the question. ". . . Doctor Franklin, looking towards the President's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising sun from a setting sun. 'I have,' said he, 'often and often in the course of the Session . . . looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun."—Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, James Madison Which of the following best summarizes Franklin's thoughts on the future of the new United States?

guarantee of due process

Use this quotation to answer the question. "No freeman [person] shall be taken or imprisoned, . . . or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. . . ." —Magna Carta, 1215 Which of the following principles does this quotation from the Magna Carta explain?

the Boston Massacre

Which event led to the historic incident illustrated in this painting?

Royal colonies had governors appointed by the king, proprietary colonies were organized by a person who was granted land, and charter colonies were led by governors elected by male property owners.

Which of the following BEST explains the main differences among royal, proprietary, and charter colonies?

Some of the basic concepts of English government originated with the ancient Babylonians.

Which of the following BEST explains the relationship between the ancient Babylonians and the English of the mid-sixteenth century?

the Intolerable Acts

Which of the following MOST DIRECTLY led to the calling of the First Continental Congress?

The First Continental Congress was held to determine a response to British policies, while the Second Continental Congress governed the nation during the Revolutionary War.

Which of the following accurately summarizes the different purposes of the First and the Second Continental Congresses?

James Wilson and James Madison

Which of the following are considered to have contributed the MOST to creating the Constitution?

limited government, separation of power, checks and balances

Which of the following did all of the first State constitutions have in common?

The colonies rejected Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union.

Which of the following events happened FIRST?

limited government

Which of the following is MOST directly related to the idea that government should be restricted in what it can do?

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

Which of the following was another way the colonists protested against British policies? (Stamp Act Congress, mob violence, Boycott of English goods)

Language condemning the slave trade was removed.

Which of the following was one compromise related to the Declaration of Independence that was agreed to by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress?

the Albany Plan; Benjamin Franklin

Which plan foresaw the benefits of colonial unity? Who proposed it?

the way States would be represented in Congress

A third difference between the plans was concerned with which topic?

The Constitution is not perfect, but considering all the different points of view of the men at the convention, it is remarkably good.

After the Constitution was signed, Benjamin Franklin said: "...I agree with this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such;...I doubt... whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views.... It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does..."—Benjamin Franklin Which of the following is the most accurate rewording of his statement?

The Anti-Federalist concern that the central government would become too powerful.

Amos Singletary, a delegate to the Massachusetts constitutional ratifying convention, made this statement: "These lawyers, and men of learning, and monied men, that talk so finely and gloss over matters so smoothly, to make us poor illiterate people, swallow down the pill, expect to get into Congress themselves; they expect to . . . get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and then they will swallow up all us little folks . . . just as the whale swallowed up Jonah." What was he expressing?

Virginia and South Carolina had the highest slave populations and could add three-fifths of each slave to their population for representation.

Based on this chart, which of the following explains why some States supported the Three-Fifths Compromise?

whether the Articles of Confederation should be revised or replaced

Early on, the Constitutional Convention adopted the following proposal. "Resolved...that a national government ought to be established consisting of a supreme Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary." What debate among the delegates to the Convention was solved by this resolution?

George Washington led troops across the Delaware River at the same time Congress worked on the Articles of Confederation.

How does the event depicted in this painting fit into the sequence of events leading to independence? (men in a boat)

Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut

In 1643, a group of colonies banded together to form a confederation, or league of friendship against Native American groups.

to unite the colonists against French and Native American attacks

In 1754, Ben Franklin drew this cartoon. For what purpose did he draw it?

The general idea was that the Articles of Confederation needed revision, but not complete replacement.

In 1787, Congress called on the States to send delegates to Philadelphia "...for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States render the [Articles] adequate to the exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union." What does this request reveal about the general attitude in Congress toward the Articles of Confederation?

North and South Carolina probably favored counting enslaved persons as part of their populations.

In deciding the population of a State for purposes of representation, a disagreement arose as to whether enslaved persons should be counted. Study the map. Which statement is consistent with what the map shows?

We claim to be one nation, but are on the verge of splitting into 13 separate states. No other nation will want to deal with such an unstable country.

In describing the problems created by the Articles of Confederation, George Washington said, "...we are one nation today and 13 tomorrow. Who will treat with us on such terms?" Which of the following most accurately restates this idea?

English, African, Irish, German

In the early years of settlement in North America, most settlers, traders, and explorers were French, Dutch, Spanish, and Swedish. Based on the chart, what is the best summary of the population much later, in 1790?

The Olive Branch petition was written, signed, and sent to King George III.

John Jay represented New York at the First and Second Continental congresses. He was a moderate and favored a cautious approach to a formal separation from Britain. Which of the following actions by the Second Continental Congress shows John Jay's influence?

People are born with certain rights that no one can take from them.

Read the excerpt and answer the question. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, . . ." —The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America Which of the following BEST paraphrases this statement?

the means by which government leaders would be chosen

Read this excerpt from the Connecticut royal charter. "...there shall be One Governor, One Deputy-Governor, and Twelve Assistants, to be from time to Time constituted, elected and chosen out of the Freemen...which said Officers shall apply themselves to take Care for the best disposing and ordering of the general Business and affairs of and concerning the Land...and the Government of the People thereof..." —Charter of Connecticut, 1662 To which aspect of government does this excerpt apply?

a monarch's power was not absolute.

The Magna Carta established the idea that

This is a Federalist cartoon that suggests that the States should stand together to build a strong country.

The cartoon shows columns representing those States that had ratified the Constitution being placed in a row by the Hand of God (on the column representing North Carolina). In what way does this cartoon illustrate the notion of federalism?

common law.

The colonists built their governments based on customs and ideas borrowed from England and early civilizations, including unwritten, judge-made law developed over centuries. This type of law is known as

the Bill of Rights.

The guarantee of religious liberty found in this proposed law is the sort of guarantee of individual rights that Anti-Federalists demanded be added to the Constitution. "We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious Worship place or Ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened [burdened] in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise [way] diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." —Virginia General Assembly, 1777 This resulting listing of basic liberties in the Constitution is called