Articles of Confederation
What is the name for the first version of the United States government?
Articles of Confederation
How many branches of government are there in the United States?
What are their names?
3 Branches
-Legislative Branch (Congress)
-Executive Branch (President)
-Judicial Branch (Court System)
In your own words, how does our government use a system called "Checks and Balances"?
Why is the purpose of having this type of system?
Answers will vary, the purpose is to ensure that one branch of government does not become too powerful
In your own words, what is the Bill of Rights?
Answers will vary
What does the word "ratify mean"
to approve something
Under the Articles of Confederation, how would you describe the power of the Federal Government?
(Strong, weak?)
The Federal government had very little power under the Articles of Confederation. More power was given to the states
This branch of government is responsible for writing laws and is made up of elected representatives around the country who serve in congress.
Legislative Branch
This is a check belonging the Executive Branch. If the president does not approve of a bill passed by Congress, he (or she someday) can do this instead of signing it into law
Veto
What is the name for the different parts of the Constitution?
Amendments
In your own words, what is the Constitution?
Rule book for our government
Why did the founding fathers purposefully design a Federal Government with little power? What were they fearful of?
The founding fathers were concerned about a federal (central) government that had too much power. They were afraid of a government becoming too powerful like Britain when they ruled over the colonies
This branch of government is responsible for signing bills into laws and putting them into action.
The Executive Branch
If the President vetos a bill, is there any way this bill could still become a law?
Yes, one check belonging to the Legislative Branch is the power to override a Presidential Veto with approval from 2/3rds of Congress.
What rights does the First Amendment protect?
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press
Larger states like Virginia and smaller states like New Jersey disagreed on how many representatives each state would get to send to Congress.
Why? (Hint: what were the smaller states afraid of?)
Answers will vary, small states wanted an equal number of representatives for each state while larger states wanted it to be based on population
Under the Articles of Confederation, who was the President?
NOBODY. Americans were so afraid of another king that they tried out a government without a President.
This Branch of government is responsible for interpreting laws and deciding whether or not they follow the rules of the Constitution.
Judicial Branch
What does it mean to "Impeach" someone in our government?
What branch has the power to impeach someone in our government who has committed a crime?
To "impeach" means to remove someone from power in our government.
Impeachment is a check belonging to the Legislative Branch
How are the 3rd and 4th Amendments connected to the experience of the Colonies under British rule?
(What happened in the colonies before the Revolutionary War that made them include these two Amendments in the Bill of Rights)
Answers will vary. In the colonies, Britain forced the colonists to take care of soldiers in their homes and was allowed to search property without any reason
What compromise was made to keep both the small and large states happy?
(Hint: was Congress broken up or did it remain as just one group)
Congress was divided into 2 parts
-House of Representatives (more people=more representatives) Large States :)
-Senate (every state gets two, regardless of population)
What is significance of Shay's Rebellion in Massachusetts? (Hint: Angry Farmers)
-What weaknesses did this event reveal about the strength of our Federal government?
Shay's Rebellion served as a wake up call to the country that our government under the Articles of Confederation was not working. With such little power, the Federal government could not do anything to stop or control problems happening in different states
Congress (Legislative Branch) is broken up into two groups.
What are the names of the two different parts of Congress?
How many people does each state get to send to Congress?
1) The House of Representatives (more people=more representatives)
2) Senate (every state gets 2, regardless of size of population)
What can the Judicial Branch do if a law does not follow the rules of the Constitution?
The Judicial Branch (court system) has the power to throw out laws that are determined to be "unconstitutional" meaning they do not follow the rules for our government listed in the Constitution
This Amendment protects a citizen's right to remain silent and prevents the government from putting someone on trial again for the same crimes after they have been found not guilty by a jury.
5th Amendment
What disagreement did different states have over the issue of slavery before the Constitution was approved?
-What compromise was made to settle this dispute?
3/5th Compromise