Articles of Confederation
What is the Articles of Confederation?
A document which was written to explain how the US government would work after the Revolutionary War.
True or False: At the Constitutional Convention, they originally planned to make changes to the Articles of Confederation. Defend your answer.
True, they did not intend to write a whole new document.
What is the Bill of Rights?
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution which explain the rights of the PEOPLE.
Explain the Executive branch.
It is comprised of the president and his/her cabinet and they ensure that laws are enforced.
What does it mean to ratify?
Get something approved.
False, it proved the government didn't have enough power to stop chaos happening.
How was the Constitution a good compromise for small states and large states?
It created a two part Congress so that small states would be happy (each state would send two representatives to the Senate) and large states would be happy (representatives sent to the House were based on state population).
What is the first amendment?
Freedom of speech, religion, press, petition and assembly.
Explain the Judicial branch.
It is comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. They interpret the laws.
What does it mean to amend?
Make a change and/or add.
Name a reason the Articles of Confederation failed.
It didn't have enough power to enforce laws.
What is the three-fifths compromise? Why did it matter?
It was a compromise for the south to count every 5 slaves as 3 members of the population. This would ensure the government could not outlaw slavery.
Why did the Bill of Rights help get the Constitution approved?
It made Antifederalists more confident that the government could never get too much control of the people.
Explain the Legislative branch.
It's also called Congress and made up of two parts: the House of Representatives and the Senate. They pass laws.
What is a democracy?
A system in which laws are agreed upon by the majority.
It didn't call for a national currency, the government couldn't collect taxes under it.
The preamble of the Constitution states:
-has to have enough power to stay organized but not enough power to have complete control over people
-the people give the government power
What is the difference between a Federalist and Antifederalist?
Federalist- defended the Constitution
Antifederalist- thought it gave the government too much power and the states not enough power.
What is the system of checks and balances?
It was a system created that didn't allow any branch to make a decision without the approval of another branch to avoid any part of the government becoming too powerful.
Give 2 examples of how our Founding Fathers used living under British rule to create a better government?
-They created checks and balances so no one could get too much power (like the King)
-They wrote in the Bill of Rights that citizens would never have to house soldiers and spelled out other rights that King George tried to take away.
-They made our government a democracy
True or false: The Articles of Confederation's primary goal was to maintain each state's power. Defend your answer.
True, after the Revolutionary War, states were worried about having a government that was too strong so each state remained more powerful than the federal government.
What is the Constitution?
A document which describes how the government is organized.
Can we still amend the constitution today?
Yes, any amendment needs to be supported by 2/3 of Congress.
How is our government similar to a three-legged stool?
Why is it important to vote?
Because it's a right that Americans have that people in other countries do not get. It allows people to choose representatives in our government. The government depends on people to vote and votes influence the direction of the government.