Branches of Government
How many senators does each state have?
2
One of the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation was...
Congress couldn't impose taxes
What is the Bill of Rights?
What is a republic?
a country led by elected representatives
What was the Articles of Confederation?
The first written agreement between the states before the Constitution. There were several problems including Congress not being able to impose taxes. Delegates wanted to revise it at the Constitutional Convention.
Congress's job is to...
make laws
Why is James Madison known as the "Father of the Constitution"?
He was came very prepared to lead discussions at the convention.
What was the purpose of the Bill of Rights?
To provide certain guarantees and rights to the people to protect them from the government
How does a federal system of government work?
Power is shared between the national (central/federal) government and the states
Why did delegates decided to start the Preamble to the Constitution with the words "We, the people"?
to show that the power came from the people
The judicial branch's job is to...
resolve issues with the law/make sure laws are constitutional
What was the greatest challenge the delegates had to overcome?
Deciding how to deal with balancing what the large and small states wanted.
How does freedom of press help a democratic society?
Allows citizens (people) to stay informed and watches government officials
What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?
The states argued about how enslaved people should count towards population. Population was important because it decided how many representatives you got in the House of Representatives. They decided that enslaved people would count as 3/5 of a person towards population.
What were opponents (people who were against) the Constitution worry about the most?
Giving up state power to form a stronger Union (central government)
What is separation of powers?
It broke the powers of government up into three branches to ensure no branch has too much power.
What did the Great Compromise decide? Include what two plans it compromised.
It decided how representation would be handled in Congress (combined the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan)
Double Jeopardy:
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Question:
Ninth Amendment: Rights retained by the people
Tenth Amendment: Powers reserved to the states
Why were these two amendments included in the Bill of Rights? What makes them important?
-Included to ensure that the national government couldn't take any rights that were not specifically given to them in the Constitution.
-Made sure that all the rights people had didn't need to be listed in the Constitution because there was no way to list every single right people should have, especially as times changed.
What is majority rule?
The idea that decisions should represent what (the majority of) people want
What did Thomas Jefferson believe about religion and government?
It should be kept separate.
What is the purpose of checks and balances?
To ensure one branch doesn't have all of the powers. Each branch has a small part of the other branches job to make sure they check (keep an eye) on the other branches.
people losing the rights they had fought for
What five rights are guaranteed in the first amendment?
speech, religion, press, assembly, petition
What was Shay's Rebellion? Why was it important?
Shay's Rebellion happened when judges ordered farmers to sell their land and animals to pay their taxes. This led to a rebellion and a court house being taken over. This event caused for Congress to call for the Constitutional Convention.
What happened for territories that reached 60,000 free men or more under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
They could apply to be states. This is how we got more states.