Chapter 2

Question 1

Q: What three influential ideas did the colonists bring with them to America?

Answer 1

A: Ordered Government, Limited Government, Representative Government.

Question 2

Q: Where is the Supreme Court located?

Answer 2

A: Washington, D.C.

Question 3

Q: What are the basic concepts of ordered government?

Answer 3

A: Orderly regulation of society.

Question 4

Q: What does limited government mean?

Answer 4

A: Government is restricted in its power, and people have rights that cannot be taken away.

Question 5

Q: What does representative government mean?

Answer 5

A: Government should serve the will of the people.

Question 6

Q: What are Judeo-Christian traditions’ influence on government?

Answer 6

A: Justice stressed that society should be based on respect for the law, and there are moral principles (Natural Law) that apply universally.

Question 7

Q: What are the classical roots of democracy that influenced American government?

Answer 7

A: Direct democracy from Athens and representative government from the Roman Republic.

Question 8

Q: What are the English roots that influenced American democracy?

Answer 8

A: The Magna Carta, Petition of Right, and the English Bill of Rights.

Question 9

Q: What is the Magna Carta, and why is it important?

Answer 9

A: The Magna Carta is a “great charter” signed in 1215 that limited the power of the king and established the rule of law.

Question 10

Q: What was the Petition of Right, and what did it emphasize?

Answer 10

A: It limited King Charles I’s power in 1628 and emphasized the principle of limited government.

Question 11

Q: What was the English Bill of Rights, and why was it significant?

Answer 11

A: Signed in 1689, it further restricted the monarchy’s powers and asserted the rule of law.

Question 12

Q: What is the social contract theory?

Answer 12

A: The idea that people agree to give up some freedoms to an absolute ruler in exchange for peace and order.

Question 13

Q: What is popular sovereignty?

Answer 13

A: The principle that government derives its power from the general will of the people.

Question 14

Q: Who wrote about separation of powers, and what does it mean?

Answer 14

A: Montesquieu wrote about it, and it means dividing government powers among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Question 15

Q: Who developed the idea of natural rights, and what are they?

Answer 15

A: John Locke, who believed in the natural rights of life, liberty, and property, and argued that government should protect these rights.

Question 16

Q: What are the three main English documents that influenced American democracy?

Answer 16

A: Magna Carta, Petition of Right, English Bill of Rights.

Question 17

Q: What was the significance of the Mayflower Compact of 1620?

Answer 17

A: It was the first written framework for self-government in the American colonies.

Question 18

Q: What was the Virginia House of Burgesses?

Answer 18

A: Established in 1619, it was the first elected assembly in the American colonies.

Question 19

Q: What were the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 19

A: The first governing document of the U.S., it created a weak national government with most powers reserved to the states.

Question 20

Q: What were some weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 20

A: Congress had no power to regulate trade, collect taxes, or enforce laws; each state had its own money and military forces.

Question 21

Q: What event exposed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 21

A: Shays’ Rebellion in 1786.

Question 22

Q: What were the key compromises made during the Constitutional Convention?

Answer 22

A: The Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise) and the Three-Fifths Compromise.

Question 23

Q: What was the Connecticut Compromise?

Answer 23

A: It established a bicameral legislature with equal representation in the Senate and proportional representation in the House of Representatives.

Question 23

Q: What were the Federalist Papers?

Answer 23

A: A series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the Constitution.

Question 23

Q: Who was elected as the first President of the United States under the Constitution?

Answer 23

A: George Washington, unanimously elected in 1789.

Question 23

Q: When was the U.S. Constitution ratified?

Answer 23

A: June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

Question 24

Q: Who were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists?

Answer 24

A: Federalists supported the Constitution and a strong central government; Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution, fearing it gave too much power to the federal government.

Question 24

Q: What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

Answer 24

A: It counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.

Question 25

Q: What were the key features of colonial governments in America?

Answer 25

A: Most colonial governments included a governor (often appointed by the King), a bicameral legislature (partly elected), and a court system. Some autonomy was present, but colonies ultimately answered to the King.

Question 26

Q: What role did the French and Indian War play in the lead-up to the American Revolution?

Answer 26

A: The war drained the British treasury, leading Britain to impose taxes on the colonies to pay for the war, which sparked colonial discontent and cries of “no taxation without representation.”

Question 27

Q: What were some key British taxes and acts that angered the American colonists?

Answer 27

A: The Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Declaratory Act of 1766, among others, including the Boston Massacre and the Intolerable Acts.

Question 28

Q: What were the Intolerable Acts, and why were they significant?

Answer 28

A: They were punitive measures taken by Britain after the Boston Tea Party, stripping Massachusetts of self-government, which helped unify the colonies against British rule.

Question 29

Q: What were the Albany Plan and the Stamp Act Congress, and why were they significant?

Answer 29

A: The Albany Plan was an early attempt at colonial unity in 1754, while the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 marked one of the first formal protests against British policies.

Question 30

Q: What is the significance of the Second Continental Congress in 1775?

Answer 30

A: It marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War, appointed George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army, and acted as the first national government

Question 31

Q: What are the key principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 31

A: The protection of unalienable rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) and the principle of popular sovereignty, that government derives its power from the consent of the governed.

Question 32

Q: What were some of the key achievements of the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 32

A: The Treaty of Paris (1783), the Land Ordinance of 1785, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which organized western lands and outlined the process for admitting new states.

Question 33

Q: What was the purpose of the Constitutional Convention in 1787?

Answer 33

A: To address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and create a stronger federal government, leading to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.

Question 34

Q: What were the main differences between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan?

Answer 34

A: The Virginia Plan favored large states with representation based on population, while the New Jersey Plan favored small states with equal representation for all states.

Question 35

Q: What were the influences on the framers of the U.S. Constitution?

Answer 35

A: Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, as well as English legal traditions, the Second Continental Congress, and the Articles of Confederation.

Question 36

Q: What was Shays’ Rebellion, and why was it significant?

Answer 36

A: It was an uprising of farmers in Massachusetts in 1786 due to economic hardship and increased taxes, exposing the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and leading to calls for a stronger central government.