Articles & Convention
100: What was the first U.S. government and why did it fail?
Answer: Articles of Confederation; too weak, couldn’t tax or enforce laws
100: What is the main job of Congress?
Answer: To make laws
100: Who leads the Executive Branch?
Answer: The President
100: What is the highest court in the U.S.?
Answer: The Supreme Court
100: What principle means the people are the source of power?
Answer: Popular Sovereignty
200: Where did the Constitutional Convention take place?
Answer: Philadelphia, 1787
200: How long is a House term? A Senate term?
Answer: House = 2 years, Senate = 6 years
200: Which role gives the President power to direct the military?
Answer: Commander in Chief
200: How long do justices on the SC serve?
Answer: For life
200: What principle divides power between state and national governments?
Answer: Federalism
300: What was the Virginia Plan’s proposal for representation?
Answer: Based on population (bicameral legislature)
300: Which chamber approves presidential appointments and treaties?
Answer: Senate
300: What law requires the President to get approval for long-term troop deployments?
Answer: War Powers Act (1972)
300: What case established judicial review?
Answer: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
300: Who supported the Constitution? Who opposed it?
Answer: Federalists supported; Anti-Federalists opposed
400: What was the New Jersey Plan’s proposal for representation?
Answer: Equal representation for all states
400: What clause gives Congress flexibility to make necessary laws?
Answer: Elastic Clause / Necessary and Proper Clause
400: What is the President’s power to reject a bill called?
Answer: Veto
400: What power does judicial review give the Court?
Answer: To declare laws unconstitutional
400: What was added to the Constitution to protect individual rights?
Answer: Bill of Rights
500: What compromise settled the dispute between big and small states?
Answer: The Great Compromise (Senate = equal, House = population)
500: What power allows Congress to remove a president from office?
Answer: Impeachment (House charges, Senate holds trial)
500: What is the purpose of the Electoral College?
Answer: It elects the President (270 votes needed to win)
500: What was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789?
Answer: Structure of the federal court system
500: What principle ensures no branch becomes too powerful?
Answer: Checks and Balances