Political Philosophy
Clue: This Greek word meaning "city" is the origin of the word "politics."
Answer: What is polis?
Clue: This 1215 document established the principle that even the king was subject to the law.
Answer: What is the Magna Carta?
Clue: This 1765 law imposed the first direct tax on the American colonies.
Answer: What is the Stamp Act?
Clue: This was America's first constitution and created a confederation of independent and sovereign states.
Answer: What are the Articles of Confederation?
Clue: This 1787 meeting began as an attempt to revise the Articles of Confederation but ultimately produced an entirely new governing document.
Answer: What is the Constitutional Convention?
Clue: In PALS, this term means "the right to rule."
Answer: What is authority?
Clue: Of the three types of British colonies, this type gave colonists the greatest degree of self-rule.
Answer: What are charter colonies?
Clue: Colonists summarized their objection to taxation by Parliament with this famous phrase.
Answer: What is "no taxation without representation"?
Clue: Under the Articles, every state received this many votes in Congress regardless of its population.
Answer: What is one vote?
Clue: Under the Connecticut Compromise, representation in this chamber was based on population.
Answer: What is the House of Representatives?
Clue: Unlike Hobbes, this philosopher believed the state of nature was peaceful and that people possessed natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
Answer: Who is John Locke?
Clue: In 1619, colonists elected these representatives to make laws on their behalf in the Virginia General Assembly.
Answer: Who were the burgesses?
Clue: What event involved colonists dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor?
Answer: What is the Boston Tea Party?
Clue: Name two things the national government could do under the Articles of Confederation.
Answer: Any two:
Clue: Under the Great Compromise, this chamber gave every state equal representation.
Answer: What is the Senate?
Clue: Hobbes and Locke both believed that government involves a social contract, but they reached very different conclusions about what people should do when their ruler becomes tyrannical. Identify the difference.
Answer: Hobbes believed people should not overthrow a tyrannical king because the ruler prevents the chaos of the state of nature. Locke believed people have the right to overthrow a tyrannical ruler who violates their natural rights.
Clue: A group of colonists arrives outside the boundaries of its original charter and agrees to govern itself through majority rule and "just and equal laws." What document does this describe, and what larger political principle does it demonstrate?
Answer: The Mayflower Compact (social contract; giving up liberties); it demonstrates consent to self-government.
Clue: Put these events in the correct order: Boston Tea Party, Stamp Act, Lexington and Concord, First Continental Congress.
Daily Double - Clue: You are a member of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. The national government desperately needs money to pay its debts, but several states refuse to provide it. What specific limitation of the Articles prevents you from solving the problem?
Answer: Congress could request money from the states but could not tax the states or force them to provide funding.
Clue: Large states wanted representation based on population, while small states wanted each state to have an equal vote. What compromise resolved this dispute?
Answer: What is the Connecticut Compromise, or Great Compromise?
Clue: A government begins dividing its power among multiple branches, places those branches under a constitution, and requires even its leaders to obey the law. Which philosopher's ideas are most directly reflected in this system, and what three concepts from the study guide support your answer?
Answer: Montesquieu — limited government, separation of powers/checks and balances, and rule of law.
Clue: Imagine a British monarch claims that he can suspend laws, raise taxes, and maintain a standing army without Parliament's permission. According to the study guide, which earlier document would directly contradict these claims, and why would colonists care?
Answer: The 1689 English Bill of Rights. It established that monarchs did not have absolute authority and required Parliament's involvement in taxation, laws, and a standing army. Colonists believed they were entitled to these rights as British subjects.
Clue: Explain the chain of events that connected Britain's postwar financial problems to the outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord. Your answer must identify at least four steps.
1. French and Indian War
2. Britain falls deeply into debt
3. Britain begins taxing/regulating the colonies (Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Tea Act)
4. Colonists object because they lack representation
5. resistance and boycotts grow
6. Boston Tea Party
7. Intolerable Acts
8. Colonial unity increases
9. Boston Massacre
10. First Continental Congress
11. Britain declares the colonies in rebellion
12. The Battles of Lexington and Concord (first battles of the Revolutionary War)
Clue: The Articles were intentionally designed to prevent a new government from becoming tyrannical. Explain how three specific features of the Articles accomplished this goal—and then explain why those same weaknesses eventually created serious problems.
Answer: Possible answer:
But these weaknesses also meant the national government could not collect taxes, regulate trade, force states to obey laws, or reliably fund itself, contributing to debt, economic problems, weak national defense, and disputes between states.
Clue: The Constitutional Convention faced three major disagreements involving representation, the presidency, and slavery. Identify the solution reached for all three.
Answer: