What was the Articles of Confederation?
The Articles of Confederation is the name of the document that created the first government of the United States.
What was The Constitutional Convention and why was it held?
Held in May of 1787 in Philadelphia, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss fixing the Articles of Confederation.
How many branches of government were created under the constitution?
3
What is the electoral college?
It is the system the U.S government uses to choose the winner of the presidential elections
What did George Washington’s actions and policies strengthen?
the federal government
What kind of government did the Articles of Confederation create? Why?
Articles of Confederation created a weak federal government and a powerful state government.
Because Americans feared a government similar to England’s government
What did the Constitutional Convention create?
The Constitution - Which was a new form of government
How many delegates are there in the Electoral College?
538
What is the name for presidential advisors that consult with the President of the U.S?
cabinet
The federal government could not raise taxes.
The states did not have to follow laws passed by the federal government.
There was no executive (king, president, etc.) or national court.
Give at least three issues that were discussed and they compromised during the Constitutional Convention
What should be done about the slave trade?
How should the states be represented in the national legislature?
Should enslaved people be counted in determining representation in the national legislature?
How should the power of the executive branch be structured?
Who runs each branch of government?
executive - president and his cabinet
legislative - congress
judicial - the supreme court
How does each state get their specific amount of electoral votes?
based on population size
Why was his farewell address so important?
it was a precedent for future presidents
What eye opening event took place as a result of the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation?
What did effect did this "event" have on the colonies?
Shay's Rebellion
Americans felt the Articles of Confederation was too weak
What were the 5 key compromises of the Constitutional Convention?
the great compromise
3/5 compromise
commerce compromise
slave-trade compromise
electing a president
What was the goal of having separate branches of the government?
Why was it so important to have these separate branches?
separation of powers
to have checks and balances
Is the electoral college considered a direct election or an indirect election? Explain your answer
indirect election - people do not vote for a candidate; instead the people vote for an individual or group to choose the candidate for the people
During George Washington's farewell address what two pieces of advice did he give the U.S moving forward?
he advised the U.S. to avoid permanent alliances with foreign countries to practice neutrality
What two groups developed as a result of the feelings American's had after the rebellion?
What did each group claim?
Federalists and Antifederalists
Federalists claimed there needs to be a strong national government.
Antifederalists claimed that a strong national governments would infringe on the rights of the citizens.
Although the Constitutional Convention was very successful in organizing a new system of government how did the federalists appease the anti-federalists to accept the new constitution?
by adding a Bill of Rights which would guarantee basic and natural rights to the citizens of the U.S
Part 1: In how many ways is the power of the federal government divided?
Part 2: Explain each one
1) Enumerated powers – powers given to the federal government specifically by the Constitution
2) Concurrent powers – powers given to both the federal and state governments
3) Reserved powers – powers given only to the state governments
Why do people see the Electoral college as an unfair system to choose the winner of the U.S president?
Because even if one of the candidates wins the popular vote for presidency they can still lose if they don't have the majority of the electoral votes.
Name three important accomplishments of George Washington's presidency and explain each one:
Proclamation of Neutrality - US would stay out of foreign conflicts
Pinckney’s Treaty - expansion through agreements with European countries
The Treaty of Greenville - US would take Native American land by whatever means necessary