A detailed written plan for government
Constitution
What was the first state to form a state government?
New Hampshire
What was the major focus of the Virginia Plan?
States should receive voting representation based on state population
What is the function of the legislative branch?
What is the name of the document that the Founding Fathers established as our written plan of government?
The Constitution
Citizens that supported the Constitution.
Federalists
What was important about the Articles of Confederation?
Was the country’s first form of Constitution
Why did Rhode Island not attend the Constitutional Convention?
Their government did not believe in a strong national government.
Why has there only been 27 amendments to the Constitution?
The method for amending the constitution is extremely strict.
Separation of powers was influenced by which Enlightenment philosopher?
Baron de Montesquieu
A group elected by the people to choose the president and vice president
Electoral College
Which of these was NOT a weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
-Congress could not tax citizens
-Congress could not enforce laws
-Congress could not raise armies
-Congress could not make laws without 9 states approval.
Congress could not raise armies
What was the major focus of the New Jersey Plan?
States should receive the same voting representation, no matter the population.
What does the Constitution mean by “form a more perfect union”?
to have all states unite and act as one whole.
Why did the Founding Fathers include the principle of limited government in the Constitution?
They wanted to ensure their government wasn’t able to abuse its power
Powers the Constitution does not give the federal government, powers set aside for the states
Reserved Powers
Why was the Northwest Ordinance so important to American History?
It established a blueprint for admitting new states to the Union.
What did the Great Compromise do? TWO major things.
Allowed details from both the New Jersey and Virginia plan.
Decided the United States would have a bicameral legislature, with a Senate and a House of Representatives.
Name all the parts of the Constitution.
Preamble, Articles, Amendments, Bill of Rights
What does checks and balances mean?
Each branch has the ability to limit another branches power.
A group of state governments working together for a common purpose
Confederation
What caused Shay’s Rebellion?
High taxation following the Revolutionary War
What was established by the Three-Fifths Compromise?
States decided to count enslaved people as three votes to every 5 free people.
What was our example of an informal amendment?
The president took over after an assassination, before the amendment was added to the constitution.
The Constitution is known as the “Supreme Law of the Land”, what does that mean?
No laws or treaties can be made that go against it.