Principles of American Democracy
1 What is the supreme law of the land?
The Constitution
Name one branch or part of the government.
Congress ▪ legislative ▪ President ▪ executive ▪ the courts
There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them
▪ Citizens eighteen (18) and older (can vote). ▪ You don’t have to pay (a poll tax) to vote. ▪ Any citizen can vote. (Women and men can vote.) ▪ A male citizen of any race (can vote)
What is one reason colonists came to America?
▪ freedom ▪ political liberty ▪ religious freedom ▪ economic opportunity ▪ practice their religion ▪ escape persecution
What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
▪ the Louisiana Territory
2 What does the Constitution do?
▪ sets up the government
▪ defines the government
▪ protects basic rights of Americans
What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
▪ checks and balances ▪ separation of powers
What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
▪ serve on a jury ▪ vote in a federal election
Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
▪ American Indians ▪ Native Americans
Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s
▪ Civil War
3 The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
We the People
Who is in charge of the executive branch?
the President
Name one right only for United States citizens
vote in a federal election ▪ run for federal office
What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
▪ Africans ▪ people from Africa
Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
▪ the Civil War
4 What is an amendment
▪ a change (to the Constitution
▪ an addition (to the Constitution
Who makes federal laws?
▪ Congress ▪ Senate and House (of Representatives) ▪ (U.S. or national) legislature
What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
freedom of expression ▪ freedom of speech ▪ freedom of assembly ▪ freedom to petition the government ▪ freedom of religion ▪ the right to bear arms
Why did the colonists fight the British?
▪ because of high taxes (taxation without representation) ▪ because the British army stayed in their houses (boarding, quartering) ▪ because they didn’t have self-government
Name one problem that led to the Civil War
▪ slavery ▪ economic reasons ▪ states’ rights
5 What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
The Bill of Rights
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
the Senate and House (of Representatives)
What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
▪ the United States ▪ the flag
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
▪ (Thomas) Jefferson
What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?
▪ freed the slaves (Emancipation Proclamation) ▪ saved (or preserved) the Union ▪ led the United States during the Civil War