Chapter 2: The Constitution

The first official meeting of the colonies, as well as the first step toward a unified nation in 1765 was the

Stamp Act Congress

In what level of government did most power and sovereignty lie under Articles of Confeseration

State

As a result of the Great Compromise at the Convention, who would elect members of the United States Senate?

State Legislatures

Specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution are known as _____ powers.

enumerated

The Framers at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 would set up what system of government under the new Constitution?

federal

One way the Congress may NOT check the authority of the other branches of government under the Constitution is by

having the authority to pardon people convicted of federal crimes.

Under the Constitution, the _____ has the authority to appoint ambassadors and judges of the Supreme Court.

president

Under the Constitution, the authority to "execute" the laws of the nations rests with the

president of the United States

The Great Compromise dealt with what thorny issue at the Constitutional Convention?

representation of the states in Congress

The Constitution's way of dividing power between the three branches of government is known as _______.

separation of powers

The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the _____.

Bill of Rights

The house today in the Congress that has the power to originate all bills for raising and spending money is the House of _____.

Representatives

The house in Congress given the sole responsibility to try the president on any articles of impeachment is the ______.

Senate

Enumerated Powers

Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense

According to Article V of the Constitution an amendment can be "proposed" by

a two-thirds vote in both houses of congress

what check may the president apply to the other branches of government under the U.S. Constitution?

nominate Supreme Court and other federal judges

Federal system

Plan of government created in the U.S. Constitution in which power is divided between the national government and the state governments and in which independent states are bound together under one national government.

Supremacy Clause

Portion of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution that mandates that national law supersedes all other laws passed by the states or any other subdivision of government.

implied powers

Powers given to the national government through the inference from enumerated powers.

The compact, ratified in 1781, among the thirteen original states that was the basis of their government was the

Articles of Confederation

Shays' Rebellion

A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing on their farms.

Great Compromise

A decision made during the Philadelphia Convention to give each state the same number of representatives in the Senate while establishing representation in the House on population.

Constitution

A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.

New Jersey Plan

A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states; its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, a multi-person "executive," the establishment of the acts of Congress as the "supreme law" of the land, and a supreme judiciary with limited power.

Checks and balances

A governmental structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others

Federalist Papers

A series of eighty-five political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Separation of powers

A way of dividing power among three branches of government in which members of the house of Representatives. members of the Senate, the president, and the federal courts are selected by and responsible to different constituencies.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulation that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mereantilism

An economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776 entitled _____ was an important influence in gathering support against Great Britain.

Common Sense

Declaration of Independence

Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain

The Framers gave the power of electing the president of the Untied States of the

Electoral college

All amendments which have been successfully proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds vote majority in both houses have also been ratified by the states

False

An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulated that each slave would NOT be counted in the census for the purpose of determining representation in the House of Representatives

False

James Madison believed that a confederal system of government would be the best form to protect the country from the narrow interests of factions

False

Shays' Rebellion provides a good example of that fact that the central government under the Articles of Confederation had adequate revenue to fund a national militia.

False

The colonies' resolve and unity for independence was clear as every colony has joined the Stamp Act Congress, First Continental Congress, and had signed that Declaration of Independence.

False

James Madison was a

Federalist

Today the ______ are considered masterful explanations of the Framers' intentions as they drafted the new Constitution.

Federalist papers

Necessary and proper clause

Found in the final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, it gives Congress the authority to pass all laws needed to carry out the enumerated powers specified the Constitution.

Much of the theoretical underpinnings and rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence were drawn heavily from

John Locke

First Continental Congress

Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774 in which fifty-six delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition in the Coercive Acts.

Stamp Act Congress

Meeting of representatives of nine of thirteen colonies help in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights have been violated.

Second Continental Congress

Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander-in-chief

The following plans at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 called for a strengthening (not replacing) of the Articles of Confederation and a one-house legislature with one vote for each state?

New Jersey Plan

The Bill of Rights contains

Numerous specific protections of individual

Committees of Correspondence

Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British.

What amendment was the only amendment to be ratified through the process of "ratifying conventions," not a vote in the state legislatures?

The amendment to repeal Prohibition

Articles of Confederation

The compact among the thirteen original states that was the basis of their government. Written in 1776, the Articles were not ratified by all the states until 1781.

Virginia Plan

The first general plan for the Constitution, proposed by James Madison. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, and an executive chosen by the legislature, and a judiciary also named by the legislature

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing specific rights and liberties that the government may never infringe upon.

Federalists

Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. political party

Anti-Federalists

Those who favored strong state governments and weak national government; opposed the ratification of U.S. Constitution.

Congress may override a presidents's veto by a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.

True

Even under the British rule, the colonies still had their own written constitutions

True

In a unitary system, such as in England, all powers of the government reside in the national government.

True

The most serious disagreement between the Virginia and New Jersey plans concerned representation in Congress

True

Confederation

Type of government in which the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states.

In the Constitution, judges were given appointments for

life, presuming "good behavior."

the constitutional power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing powers" is granted to

the congress

the Anti-Federalists feared

the power of the national government would restrict the liberties of the people.

One of the key problems under the Articles of Confederation was that

there was no provision for a judicial system to handle disputes between the states.