Founding Documents
On what exact date was the Declaration of Independence approved?
July 4, 1776
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ______ the Revolutionary War.
ended
List the three branches of the U.S. government.
Legislative, Executive, Judicial
In what year was the Northwest Ordinance enacted?
1787
A monarchy is ruled by a ______.
king / queen
TRUE / FALSE – The Mayflower Compact is the second written agreement made by colonists.
False
In what year was the Treaty of Paris signed?
1783
Which principle means everyone—including leaders—must obey the law?
Rule of Law
According to the ordinance, how many free inhabitants were required for a territory to seek statehood?
60,000
Give the surname of ONE Enlightenment thinker who influenced American ideas on government.
Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, or Rousseau
Which Virginian was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
The decisive 1781 battle that effectively ended the war was fought at what Virginia town?
Yorktown
“Consent of the governed” means government gets its power from whom?
the people
What practice was permanently banned in the Northwest Territory?
slavery
Name ALL FOUR philosophers often cited by the Founders.
Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, Rousseau
How many men signed the Mayflower Compact?
41
Who led the 1786–87 uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers known as Shays’s Rebellion?
Daniel Shays
According to the English Bill of Rights, a monarch cannot ______ laws without Parliament.
suspend
Give ONE civil liberty guaranteed to settlers by the Northwest Ordinance.
(freedom of religion, trial by jury, public education, etc.)
Whose writings on natural rights to life, liberty, and property echoed in the Declaration?
John Locke
Name the document that protects citizens’ freedoms from being taken away by government power.
Bill of Rights
Shays’s Rebellion convinced many leaders that which national charter had to be revised?
Articles of Confederation
Name any TWO additional core principles of American government.
(any two: popular sovereignty, separation of powers, checks & balances, federalism, limited government, etc.)
Name THREE present-day states that came out of the Northwest Territory (any three correct).
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin (MN portion acceptable)
In one sentence, define the concept of “rule of law.”
Everyone, including government officials, is subject to established laws.