Foundational Documents
This 1215 document established that even the king was subject to the law.
Magna Carta
This British policy allowed the colonies considerable freedom to manage their own affairs before the French and Indian War.
Salutary neglect
What three natural rights are specifically named in the Declaration?
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
Under the Articles, which level of government held most political power?
The states
This compromise created a two-house Congress with representation by population in one house and equal state representation in the other.
Great Compromise / Connecticut Compromise
This colonial assembly gave Virginia colonists experience electing representatives to make laws.
House of Burgesses
This war ended in 1763 and left Britain with significant debt and a larger empire to defend.
French and Indian War
According to the Declaration, legitimate government gets its power from this source.
Consent of the governed / the people
How many states were required for major congressional decisions, and how many were required to amend the Articles?
9 of 13; 13 of 13
Under the Great Compromise, which chamber represents population and which gives states equal representation?
House = population; Senate = equal state representation
This 1620 agreement demonstrated self-government and consent of the governed.
Mayflower Compact
Put these in the correct order: Intolerable Acts, Boston Tea Party, First Continental Congress.
Boston Tea Party → Intolerable Acts → First Continental Congress
What section of the Declaration provides evidence of the king's abuses?
Grievances
Congress could request money and troops from the states, but what was the problem with this?
There was no way to make the states do what congress wanted.
What disagreement between states was the Great Compromise designed to resolve?
Large-state vs. small-state disagreement over representation.
This 1689 document placed specific limits on the monarch and protected rights such as free elections and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.
English Bill of Rights
Complete the cause-and-effect chain: French and Indian War → British debt → ______ → colonial resistance.
Increased taxes/control over the colonies
Did the Declaration create the new national government? Explain its actual purpose.
No. It justified/explained the colonies' decision to separate from Britain.
Connect the American experience under British rule to the design of the Articles of Confederation.
Fear of centralized power led Americans to create a deliberately weak national government.
The Three-Fifths Compromise counted three-fifths of the enslaved population for what two constitutional purposes?
Representation and direct taxation
Magna Carta limited power, the House of Burgesses provided representation, and the Mayflower Compact demonstrated self-government. What connects these documents to the Constitution?
They developed principles later incorporated into American constitutional government.
The colonies were already fighting Britain for more than a year before this document formally changed their political status. What was it?
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration lists grievances against the king. What purpose do those grievances serve in the Declaration's argument?
They provide evidence that the government violated the colonists' rights / broke the social contract.
Connect the Articles of Confederation → Shays' Rebellion → Constitutional Convention.
Weak national government → inability to respond effectively to crisis → demand for a stronger system.
Which compromise increased the political representation of slaveholding states by counting part of their enslaved population?
The Three-Fifths Compromise