Declaration of Independence
That all men are created equal and that they are endowed with unalienable rights (Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness).
What two ideas were the Declaration of Independence based upon?
The Northeast had natural harbors ideal for trade and commerce.
What was the lure of North America for early settlers?
Articles of Confederation
What was the first constitution of the United States?
A written bill of rights is necessary to ensure individual liberty.
What position did Anti-Federalists take during the debates over ratification of the U.S. Constitution?
To keep African Americans from gaining racial equality.
What was the goal of Southern state governments following Reconstruction?
To draft a document that would explain to the world why Great Britain's colonies wanted independence.
What was the goal of the five-man committee when they set out to write the Declaration of Independence?
A variety of rivers, plains, mountains, and plateaus.
What are the landforms of the United States?
Representation in Congress
What important issue did the Great Compromise settle?
It lists the goals of the federal government.
What was the purpose of the Preamble of the Constitution?
It outlawed slavery in all states.
What did the Thirteenth Amendment do?
People have certain rights that were given to them by their creator, and cannot be taken from them.
What is an ideal found in the Declaration of Independence?
Mountain ranges and deserts presented barriers to movement.
What were the challenges of the geography of North America?
James Madison
Who was known as "the Father of the Constitution"?
It can be amended in order to change with the times.
Why is the Constitution called a "living document"?
It defined citizens as those who had been born or naturalized in the United States, prohibited states from denying individuals due process of law, and reversed the Dred Scott decision.
What did the Fourteenth Amendment do?
Thomas Jefferson
Who was the author of The Declaration of Independence?
It provided the first written framework for self-government in what is now the United States.
What was the significance of Mayflower Compact?
A group of individuals made up of electors from each state who cast votes to elect the president and vice president.
What is the Electoral College?
Makes the laws.
What is the Legislative Branch of government?
It ruled that segregation was constitutional.
Why was the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson important?
Preamble
What is the opening paragraph of The Declaration of Independence?
It helped to promote the idea that freedom of the press should be protected.
What was the significance of the Zenger Trial?
Federalists and Anti-Federalists
Who are the two opposing groups that emerged during the Constitutional Convention?
Interprets the laws
What is the Judicial Branch of the government?
It ruled that segregation was constitutional.
Why was the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson important?