The Articles of Confederation.
True or False: The Constitution we use today is the only one we've ever used.
False: Before our current Constitution we had the Articles of Confederation.
What city did the Constitutional Convention take place in?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
What does the word "Ratify" mean?
To approve / to pass.
How many branches of government are there in the United States?
Three.
Why is the U.S. government split into multiple branches?
To prevent any one branch from getting to much power. We call this "Separation of Powers" and "Checks and Balances".
What does the word "constitution" mean?
A document that sets the rules of how a government functions.
What disagreement did the Three Fifths Compromise settle?
Whether or not to count slaves as part of the population.
What is a "bill of rights"?
A list of rights the government can not take away.
What is the Vice-President's job?
To become President if the President dies, is fired or quits.
OR.
To cast tie breaking votes in the Senate.
Which branch of government CREATES laws?
The Legislative Branch / Congress.
What were the Articles of Confederation?
The first constitution of the United States.
What was the New Jersey Plan?
The proposal that every state should send an equal number of representatives to Congress.
What did the Federalists believe about government and the Constitution?
They believed a strong national government was a good thing and that the Constitution should be ratified.
The President of the United States has "veto power". What does this mean?
The President can refuse to sign a law and send it back to Congress.
What is the Electoral College?
The group of electors who chose the President of the United States based on how their states people voted.
What event led to Americans realizing the Articles of Confederation were not working and needed to be replaced?
Shay's Rebellion.
What was the Virginia Plan?
The proposal that number of representatives a state sends to Congress should be based on population.
What did the Anti-Federalists believe about government and the Constitution?
They believed a strong national government was a bad idea and opposed ratifying the Constitution.
What are the two houses of Congress called?
The House of Representatives & the Senate.
What are the branches of government?
Legislative.
Executive.
Judicial.
Why did the Articles of Confederation intentionally make the national government weak?
Because people were afraid that if the government is too strong it can take away people's rights.
What did the Great Compromise do to solve the disagreement over how many representatives each state gets?
It agreed to split Congress in two and use both the New Jersey and the Virginia Plans.
What did the Federalists do to convince the Anti-Federalists to support the Constitution?
They agreed to add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
Congress has the ability to "impeach" a President. What does this mean?
Congress holds a trial to decide whether or not the President should be removed from office.
What is the Supreme Court's primary responsibility?
The Supreme Court reviews whether or not laws are constitutional or unconstitutional (or whether or not they follow the rules of the Constitution).