Articles of Confederation
This was the first written plan of government for the United States.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
This Founding Father is known as the 'Father of the Constitution.'
Who is James Madison?
These are the first three words of the United States Constitution
What is 'We the People'?
This is the name given to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
What is the Bill of Rights?
This type of government is traditionally led by a king or queen, who usually inherits the position.
What is a monarchy?
Under the Articles of Confederation, this level of government held most of the power.
What are the state governments?
This group supported ratifying the Constitution because they believed the country needed a stronger national government.
Who are the Federalists?
This is the primary responsibility of the legislative branch of the United States government.
What is making laws?
This First Amendment freedom protects a person's ability to express opinions, including criticism of the government.
What is freedom of speech?
This type of government is controlled by a small group of powerful individuals.
What is an oligarchy?
Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had the power to take this action involving military conflict with another nation.
What is declaring war?
This group opposed the Constitution as originally written because they feared the national government would become too powerful.
Who are the Anti-Federalists?
This article of the Constitution explains how amendments can be proposed and ratified.
What is Article VII?
This amendment lowered the voting age in the United States from 21 to 18.
What is the 26th Amendment?
This type of government bases its political authority on religious leadership or religious law.
What is a theocracy?
This was required from all 13 states before the Articles of Confederation could be amended.
What is unanimous approval?
This was the original goal of the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia in 1787.
What is revising the Articles of Confederation?
Found in Article VI, this clause establishes that the Constitution and valid federal laws take priority over conflicting state laws.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
This amendment prohibited denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
What is the 15th Amendment?
Unlike an unlimited government, this type of government has restrictions on its authority and must follow established laws.
What is a limited government?
This major weakness of the Articles of Confederation made it difficult for the national government to respond to problems and helped lead to the creation of the Constitution.
What is a weak national government?
This agreement at the Constitutional Convention created a two-house Congress, with representation based on population in one house and equal representation for each state in the other.
What is the Great Compromise?
The Founding Fathers divided the national government into three branches to prevent this from happening.
What is one branch gaining too much power?
This amendment guarantees equal protection under the law and protects citizenship rights.
What is the 14th Amendment?
In this system of government, states retain most of the political power and delegate limited authority to a common central government.
What is a confederal system?