Articles of Confederation
Fill in the blanks:
In the years following the American Revolution, Americans thought of themselves as individual _________, not of a common __________.
What are:
states, nation/country
The original purpose of the convention was to change what existing document?
What is:
Articles of Confederation
What are powers shared between the national government and state governments called?
What are:
Concurrent powers
The U.S. President belongs to which branch of government?
What is:
Executive Branch
The framers of the constitution got many of their ideas from which period in European history?
What is:
Enlightenment/Age of Reason
Under the Articles of Confederation, most of the power of the government was in whose hands?
What are:
The states
The framers needed to create a government was was a republic. What is a republic?
What is:
A system of government where the people delegate their responsibility to elected representatives to make decisions
What are powers the states have called?
What are:
Reserved powers
Explain the concept of checks and balances.
What is:
A system in the U.S. government that allows each branch to amend or veto acts of another branch so as to prevent any one branch from exerting too much power over the others
What type of people made up the Anti-Federalists?
Who are:
- Rural farmers, landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers
- People who supported strong states' rights over a powerful federal government
- Leaders: Patrick Henry, James Winthrop, Melancton Smith, and George Mason
Identify 1 similarity between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
What is:
Both documents were/are considered official law and obeyed by all states.
Both documents were created by the legislature in the congress, and the central government regulated the value of money.
The federal roles in both documents state that negotiations with other nations should be handled by the central government only (receiving and sending ambassadors, diplomatic missions, and signing of international treaties are done at a centralized level).
There are term limits for holding government offices in both documents. (ex. representatives under the Constitution serve in legislative offices for 2 years only and senators for 6).
Give 2 reasons why compromise was so important at the convention.
What are:
1. Bi-cameral (2-house) legislature (House of Representatives and Senate)
2. Both parties (Federalists and Anti-Federalists) were satisfied and agreed.
What are powers the national government has called?
What are:
Enumerated/Delegated powers
Who has the power to tax and declare war?
What is:
Congress (Legislative Branch)
What was the Great Compromise?
What is:
An agreement reached between Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that established a bi-cameral (2-house) legislature (House of Representatives and Senate)
Identify 2 differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
What are:
The two documents codified the law differently (Articles of Confederation had a unicameral government, weak central government, and strong independent state with one legislature that delegated the voting powers to committees from each state; the Constitution created a bi-cameral legislature for one vote for a single legislative representative according to the census population and has a strong central government with some powers reserved for states).
Articles of Confederation relied on the lax union and had no executive positions and roles; Constitution centralized authority by creating an executive branch of government to provide a figurehead in the government department accountable to public scrutiny.
Serving term limits differed between the two documents (office of the legislature term does not exceed three years in confederation; no limitation period for the legislature in the U.S. Constitution).
Organization of the two documents varies significantly (Articles of Confederation have Congress only, while Constitution is made up of the judiciary (supreme courts and the federal courts), congress, and the president).
In both documents, Congress has powers to regulate trade, declare war, make treaties, borrow and coin money, and make laws; power to tax and regulate trade is present only in the Constitution.
In the U.S. Constitution, the laws are made by the House of Representatives and the Senate, with each state represented by two members in congress; the legislature in Confederation was made up of an unbranched congress consisting of two-seven people.
Representatives in Congress are elected through a popular vote in the Constitution system; state legislatures appointed members into the Congress under the Article of confederation.
The Constitution has a more expansive governance system relative to the Confederation Article because it creates checks and balances between the three government branches and has a clear enumeration of how the states and the federal government should relate. The Bill of Rights was established under this structure. The amendments of this document laid a foundation for civil liberties currently enjoyed by U.S. citizens.
Reformations based on democracy have been enabled by the Constitution; people never demanded a Bill of Rights under the Confederation laws because the government had no powers to amend the rules.
Identify 1 difference between the New Jersey Plan and Virginia Plan.
What is:
- NJ Plan (represented small states) = wanted a legislature that gave each state equal representation, regardless of population size
- VA Plan (represented large states) = wanted a legislature where states received representation in proportion to the size of their population
Identify 2 powers reserved to the states.
What are:
1. Regulate education
2. Provide police/fire protection
Other answers: grant licenses, create laws for marriage, driving, drinking alcohol (legal drinking ages)
Who interprets the Constitution?
What is:
Supreme Court (Judicial Branch)
Identify 3 reasons the Federalists won the debate over ratification of the Constitution.
What are:
1. Limited Government — Federalists argued the national government had only the powers granted specifically to it under the Constitution and was prohibited from certain powers completely.
2. Separation of Powers — Federalists argued that, by separating the basic powers of government into three equal branches and not giving too much power to any one person or group, the Constitution provided balance and prevented the potential for tyranny.
3. Checks and Balances — Federalists argued the Constitution provided a system of checks and balances, where each of the three branches is able to check or limit the other branches.
Explain why Shays' Rebellion was a cause for the revision of the Articles of Confederation.
What is:
When the central government couldn't put down the rebellion, the first stirrings of federalism, or a strong central government, began to gather strength.
Why was the 3/5 Compromise a victory for the southern states?
What is:
It benefitted southern states to include enslaved people in their population counts, as that calculation would give them more seats in the House of Representatives and thus more political power.
Identify 2 powers delegated to the national government and 1 concurrent power.
What are:
Enumerated/Delegated (National)
1. Declare war
2. Regulate treaties
Other answers: issue money, maintain a military, regulate interstate/foreign trade, do anything "Necessary and proper" (Elastic Clause)
Concurrent powers:
1. Levy taxes
Other answers: courts, crime and punishment
Identify 3 functions of the Executive Branch.
What are:
1. Signs laws
2. Vetoes laws
3. Appoints federal judges
Other answer: elected every 4 years
Identify 4 freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.
What are:
Freedom of:
1. Religion
2. Speech
3. Assembly
4. Petitioning the government to redress grievances