State Constitutions/Elizabeth Freeman
Which provisions were included in all early state constitutions? Select the two correct answers
a) It was illegal to enslave people.
b) State governments could not keep a person in jail without a trial.
c) State governments had the right to declare war on another state.
d) State governments needed a good reason to search a person’s home.
e) Women were guaranteed the right to vote in state elections.
b) State governments could not keep a person in jail without a trial.
d) State governments needed a good reason to search a person’s home.
Why did the United States want to create a weak central government?
Students should explain in their own words the concerns the U.S. had with a central government with too much power.
America’s first plan for a national government was called the what?
a) Magna Carta
b) U.S. Constitution
c) Articles of Confederation
d) Declaration of Independence
c) Articles of Confederation
How did Shays Rebellion expose a weakness in the Articles of Confederation?
a) It showed that the price of land in the Northwest Territory was too high.
b) It showed that the government of the United States had no one at its head.
c) It showed that the national income tax unfairly targeted farmers and small landowners.
d) It showed that the national government lacked the power to protect citizens from unrest.
d) It showed that the national government lacked the power to protect citizens from unrest.
Which conclusion is supported by the map?
a) The Northwest Ordinances served as a means to add new states to the Union.
b) The sale of land in the Northwest Territory was the only way Congress could raise revenue.
c) People living in the Northwest Territory did not have the same rights as citizens in the thirteen states.
d) Passage of the Northwest Ordinances was the most obvious weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
a) The Northwest Ordinances served as a means to add new states to the Union.
It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.” —Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson’s statement is most closely related to which right?
a) self-rule
b) trial by jury
c) freedom of religion
d) freedom of assembly
c) freedom of religion
How did the Articles of Confederation reflect Americans’ experiences with Great Britain before the Revolutionary War? Support your answer using evidence from the chapter.
Students should clearly state an accurate claim and support it with relevant evidence, such as the unfair rules and policies Americans experienced under Parliament and the king; the strong belief among national leaders in the concepts of self-rule and government by consent; Americans’ belief in natural rights; the strong state governments created by individual state constitutions as compared to the relative weakness of the national government created by the Articles of Confederation. Answers should include explanations of how the evidence supports the claim.
Which of the following could correctly be added to the “Powers of Congress” column in the chart?
a) Create a post office
b) Enforce national laws
c) Regulate local schools
d) Create a national court system
a) Create a post office
During Shays Rebellion, the rebels often closed courts from operating. What was their motivation to do this?
Students should explain in their own words how taxes played a role in farmers struggles and how the courts added to their problems.
What was the motivation for the United States to ban slavery from the Northwest Territories.
Students should explain in their own words the impact that limiting slaveries expansion would have on slavery itself.
Who was Elizabeth Freeman?
a) a pastor who wrote Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom
b) a lawyer who helped enslaved people in northern states win their freedom
c) an enslaved woman who used the Massachusetts constitution to gain her freedom
d) a delegate to the Second Continental Congress who helped write America’s first constitution
c) an enslaved woman who used the Massachusetts constitution to gain her freedom
Which of the following was a major weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
a) The president had too much power.
b) Congress lacked the ability to tax the states.
c) The executive and judicial branches had too much power.
d) The national government could force citizens to serve in the military
b) Congress lacked the ability to tax the states.
Be it enacted . . . that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.
According to the excerpt, the state of Virginia?
a) had the right to make it illegal to be an atheist
b) could impose a tax on all churches within the state
c) had the right to force people to join the state church
d) could not stop someone from voting based on their religion
d) could not stop someone from voting based on their religion
Under the Articles of Confederation, how many of the thirteen states had to approve a law before it could be passed?
a) seven b) nine c) eleven d) thirteen
b) nine