Gov 100 Chapter 2 Learning Assessment
The powerful words of the Preamble to the Constitution begin with
"we the people"
Before it could take effect, the Constitution had to be ratified by the following number of states:
9
The Constitution would take effect among those states approving it when ratified by _________ of the 13 states.
9
Since the ratification of the Constitution, more than nine thousand amendments have been proposed, but only __________ have been adopted.
27
Under the Articles of Confederation as well as the Constitution, taxes requested of the states were based on the population of each state with 1 slave counting as ___________ of a person.
3/5
The man who engaged in debates and political bargains that shaped the Constitution and who came to be known as the "Father of the Constitution" was
James Madison
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorist's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?
John Locke
____________ was a prominent chief justice who believed in a strong national government.
John Marshall
Thomas Hobbes was the author of
Leviathan.
The necessary and proper clause can be found in the constitutional Article I, Section 8 dealing with
Congress
Which institution was not originally established under the Constitution?
Court of Appeals
The Supreme Court first declared that the courts have the power to overturn government acts that conflict with the Constitution in
Marbury vs. Madison
What was the only state to decline the invitation to all thirteen states to meet in Philadelphia to consider revising the Articles of Confederation?
Rhode Island
Economic conditions under the articles forced the state of Massachusetts to disrupt court foreclosure proceedings, leading to what was known as the
Shays Rebellion
__________________ helped convince the states that, on top of the Articles' other problems, neither the federal nor the state governments could maintain order.
Shays' Rebellion
The ____________________ established a tax on virtually all forms of paper used by the colonists.
Stamp Act of 1765
Among the list of Congressional powers were:
all of the above
The legitimacy of a government exists when
the people accept its right to pass and enforce laws.
John Locke suggests people have certain natural (or inalienable) rights that government cannot take away, including the right to life, liberty, and property. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson substituted "__________________" in place of "property."
the pursuit of happiness
A republic is a government
based on the consent of the governed.
What type of congress was established under the Virginia Plan?
bicameral
Under separation of powers, the U.S. system keeps power among branches balanced by enabling one branch to counter the actions of another by the use of
checks and balanaces
Different branches of the federal government share certain responsibilities and can have a formal impact on each other's activities. This reflects the principle of
checks and balances
The constitutional provision that allows Congress to override the president's veto is an example of
checks and balances
The Articles of Confederation established a weak central government because of:
colonial experience under the British government.
The framers of the Constitution intended ___________ to be the strongest branch(es) of government.
congress
Collecting money to pay off our war debt was difficult for Congress under the Articles because
congress lacked power to tax
Making certain assumptions about human nature, the Founders
created a government of fragmented power.
The New Jersey Plan favored
equal representation by the states.
The case of McCulloch v. Maryland was important because it
established the legal basis for the supremacy of national authority over the states
The constitutional amendment process requires
extraordinary majorities.
The Articles of Confederation (America's first constitution) was ratified _________ after it was written in 1777.
four years
Which powers go to Congress from the constitutional authorization "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers?"
implied powers
The single most important factor leading to the Constitutional Convention was
inability of the national or state governments to maintain order under the Articles.
The Constitution established a bicameral Congress, which means that:
it consisting of two chambers
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress could not raise an army because
it could not draft individuals directly.
The key principle argued in the case Marbury v. Madison was
judicial review
By signing the Declaration of Independence, the rebels
left themselves without any real central government
A difference between the Articles of Confederation and the U. S. Constitution is that, in the Constitution, all
legitimacy is based in the citizens of the nation rather than the states
The "unalienable rights" identified by the Declaration of Independence are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Bill of Rights provides an example of the way in which the Constitution ___________ the national government's power.
limits
In assigning the powers of government, the Constitution
lists the powers given to the national government and the powers denied the states and leaves all other powers to the states.
An ex post facto law
makes an action criminal even though it was legal when it was performed.
The fact that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land expresses the principle of
national supremacy.
The 1787 Constitutional Convention was brought on by the
perceived problems within the Articles of Confederation.
Among the reserved powers traditionally left to the states by the Constitution is
public education
The Articles of Confederation allowed the national government to do all the following except
regulate interstate commerce
The sharpest conflict that emerged between small and large states was over:
representation
The Great Compromise focused on
representation in the legislative branch
Republicanism is a form of government in which power
resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.
After Shays's Rebellion, Congress approved a convention to
revise the Articles of Confederation
Originally, the Constitutional Convention's purpose was to
revise the Articles of Confederation.
The doctrine of republicanism was introduced by the framers in order to prevent
rule by ordinary citizens
According to the Declaration of Independence, the one primary purpose of government is to
secure the unalienable rights of its citizens.
The idea that authority should be distributed among three branches of government is the principle of
separation of powers
The War of Independence lasted about
six and a half years
Proponents of the Virginia Plan believed that __________ should be the determining factor for granting representation to a national governing body.
size of population
The Articles jealously guarded
state sovereignty.
Madison would generally agree with all of the following statements regarding factions except:
They always constitute a minority of the people.
The passage of the British Stamp Act in 1765 incited the colonists to protest
taxation without representation
The Bill of Rights consists of the first _________ amendments to the Constitution.
ten
The following constitutional amendment, which prevents members of Congress from voting themselves immediate pay increases, was submitted to the states in 1789, but was not ratified until 1992:
the Twenty Seventh Amendment
Larger states benefited most under what plan?
the Virginia plan
A result of the Second Continental Congress was
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
Known as the ______________ Plan, James Madison's proposal at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 included a strong central government that could operate directly for the citizens of the United States without the states acting as an intermediary, and a two chamber legislative branch with equally sized districts.
Virginia
A group of delegates to the Constitutional Convention proposed a powerful national government to replace the weak confederation of states. This was known as the
Virginia Plan
Under the Articles of Confederation, whatever powers the national government possessed were exercised by
the congress
Which feature of the U.S. Constitution reveals the founding fathers' fear of majority rule?
the creation of the Electoral College
A confederation can best be described as
a loose association of independent states.
The power of judicial review permits
the federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional
A key component of the Virginia Plan was
a strong national legislature.
Opponents of the Constitution demanded inclusion of the Bill of Rights because they feared abuse of power by
the national government
Antifederalists attacked the proposed Constitution on the grounds that
the national government it created was too strong.
The Great Compromise provided for
a two-chamber legislature with equal representation for all states in one chamber and population-based representation in the other
The Great Compromise called for a legislature with:
two houses, one based on population, one based on equal representation.
One way to amend the Constitution allows _____________ of the states to request a national constitutional convention that can propose amendments that go into effect when approved by __________ of the states.
two-thirds; three-fourths
Shays' Rebellion
underscored weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation
Shays' Rebellion
underscored weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation.
Federalism, or the division of power between a national government and regional units, stands in contrast to
unitary government
The Three-Fifths Compromise
was a compromise with southern slaveholders about how slaves would be counted.
The articles of Confederation formulated a rather weak federal government in part because the national government
was unable to formulate and conduct effective foreign policy.
The delegates at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention were exclusively
white and male
The primary contribution of the Federalist papers is
their insight into the meaning of the constitutional provisions.
The first __________ Amendments to the Constitution constitute the Bill of Rights.
10
Implied powers are based on the:
Necessary and Proper Clause.
To counter the Virginia Plan, William Paterson presented the Convention with the so-called ______________ Plan, which strengthened the Articles by providing equal representation in Congress, Congressional authority to regulate commerce and to directly tax imports, proposed a national executive chosen by the legislature, and a national judiciary chosen by the executive.
New Jersey
Which of the following plans was exactly the same as the structure of the Congress under the Articles of Confederation?
New Jersey
Who wrote the influential pamphlet Common Sense, which called for independence from Britain?
Thomas Paine
Which amendments are referred to as the Civil War Amendments?
13th, 14th, and 15th
Since the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, __________ more amendments have been added.
17
The constitution has been amended __________ times since the Bill of Rights.
17
In what year was the final draft of the Constitution given to the delegates for their acceptance or rejection?
1787
The states ratified ten amendments to the Constitution in _________ as a Bill of Rights that became part of the Constitution
1791
The colonists reacted to British taxes by:
All of the Above
The Declaration of Independence:
All of the above
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had full authority over:
All of the above
According to the decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, the necessary and proper clause gives
Congress implied power to charter a bank.
What constitutional crisis emerged from Shays' Rebellion?
Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, lacked the power to confront significant national emergencies
The constitutional provision found in Article I, Section 8, which gives Congress the means to execute its powers, is an example of what type of power?
Enumerated
Supporters of the Constitution named themselves
Federalists
Of the many delegates who gathered to form the Constitution, who was elected to chair the meeting?
George Washington
Article ___________ of the Constitution establishes Congress as the legislative branch.
I
The contract with which the Pilgrims formed their civil government is called the:
Mayflower Compact
Which of the primary values broke down during the Articles of Confederation?
Order
Who said "Give me liberty or give me death"?
Patrick Henry
____________________ acted as the common government of the states between 1775 and 1781.
The Second Continental Congress
Which of the following statements concerning government under the Articles is incorrect?
The legislature was bicameral.
The Great Compromise resolved what issue?
The power of large versus small states
The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was
Thomas Jefferson
When compared with the U.S. Constitution, most American state constitutions
are longer and more detailed.
In balancing national and state authority, the framers faced the necessity of
preserving the traditional authority of the states while enhancing the powers of the national government.
The main argument against the need for a bill of rights was that
the Constitution established a government of limited powers; because the government was not given the power to regulate individual liberties, no bill of rights was necessary.
John Locke's social contract theory was embodied in
the Declaration of Independence.
Under the Connecticut Compromise:
the House of Representatives would be proportional to population, but the Senate would represent each state equally.
The difference between a confederation and a federation is that in a confederation
ultimate government authority rests in states.