Articles of Confederation
What were the Articles of Confederation?
the country's first constitution
Who was Daniel Shays?
A former soldier and a farmer
What was the Constitutional Convention?
A meeting of delegates to discuss how to make a new and better constitution.
What is a compromise? What does that word mean? (not an example, an explanation of the term)
It is when a disagreement is settled and both sides have to give something up. But both sides get some of what they want.
What was the main difference between the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution?
The US Constitution has a much stronger federal government. The Articles of Confederation gave almost all the power to the states. The US Constitution gives most of the power to the federal government.
states
What state did Shays start his rebellion in?
Massachusetts
Why did we need a new constitution? What was wrong with the old one?
The old one (the Articles of Confederation) did not give Congress the power it needed to solve certain problems.
What problem did the Great Compromise solve?
The problem of state representation in Congress.
How many branches does the US Constitution organize our federal government into? What are they? What does each one do?
3:
Legislative branch makes the laws
Executive branch "executes" the laws (carries out the laws)
Judicial branch "judges" the laws (decides if the laws are constitutional.)
What was one thing that Congress could not do under the Articles of Confederation, and why was this a problem?
possible answers:
collect taxes - problem for paying off war debt
raise an army - problem for defending the country
settle disputes between states - problem because the states could end up fighting each other
What was the problem that led to the rebellion?
Courts were foreclosing on farms because farmers could not pay taxes. Taxes were too high and the farmers had no way to pay, so their land was taken or they were put in jail.
Who led the Constitutional Convention?
George Washington
How did the Great Compromise solve the problem of how states would be represented in Congress?
by making 2 houses of Congress. The Senate has equal representation, and the House of Representatives has representation based on how many people are in the state (population).
What do we call the system that keeps any one branch of the government from becoming too powerful?
Checks and Balances
Under the Articles of Confederation what was one thing that the Congress could do?
possible answers:
declare war
manage issues with Native Americans
manage foreign affairs
What did Daniel Shays do in order to stop the farms from being foreclosed on by the courts?
He got a group of soldiers together to steal weapons from the armory and block anyone from going into the courts or coming out of the courts. That way the judges could not arrest anyone or rule to take their land.
What problems needed to be solved at the Constitutional Convention?
How to set up the new Congress
How states would be represented in the new Congress
What problem did the 3/5 Compromise try to solve?
How slaves would be counted towards population for representation in the house of representatives.
Which branch of government has the most checks on the powers of the other 2?
Legislative Branch
Under the Articles of Confederation how many states had to vote for a law for Congress to pass the law?
9 out of 13
Why was this event one of the most important events in US History?
Shays's Rebellion showed that the country needed a new form of government that gave Congress more powers. It led to the US Constitution being written.
What was the main difference between the country's first constitution and the one we have now that has lasted almost 250 years?
The main difference is that the US Constitution we have now gives the federal government more power.
What was the worst effect of the 3/5 Compromise?
Slavery was written into the Constitution with the 3/5 Compromise. Slavery became "constitutional" after that.
Explain any one check that one branch of government has on another branch.
You must name the branch, and name which branch it checks, and explain the check
possible answers:
legislative branch checks the executive branch by being able to impeach president
Judicial branch checks the legislative branch by being able to judge laws unconstitutional.
Judicial branch checks the Executive branch by being able to declare a Presidential action unconstitutional.
Executive branch can check the legislative branch by vetoing a bill and stopping it from becoming a law
Executive branch checks the judicial branch by choosing Supreme Court judges
Legislative branch checks the judicial branch by being able to impeach judges, or by voting on the President's choice of judges