Chapter 2 - The Constitution

Question 0

The document approved by the representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence

Answer 0

The Declaration of Independence

Question 1

A nation’s basic law. It creates political institutions, assigns or divides powers in government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens

Answer 1

Constitution

Question 2

Rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property.

Answer 2

Natural rights

Question 3

The idea that government derives it’s authority by the agreement of the people

Answer 3

Consent of the governed

Question 4

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens. Restrictions on what rulers can do

Answer 4

Limited government

Question 5

The first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and enacted in 1781. It established a national legislature, the Continental Congress, but most authority rested with the state legislatures

Answer 5

Articles of Confederation

Question 6

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings

Answer 6

Shays’ Rebellion

Question 7

The document written in 1787 and ratified in 1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of U.S. Government and the tasks these institutions perform.

Answer 7

The U.S. Constitution

Question 8

Interest groups arising from the unequal distribution of property or wealth

Answer 8

Factions

Question 9

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state’s population

Answer 9

The New Jersey Plan

Question 10

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state’s share of the U.S. population

Answer 10

Virginia Plan

Question 11

The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established two houses of Congress: the House of Representatives, in which representation is based on a state’s share of the U.S. Population, and the Senate, in which each state has two representatives

Answer 11

Connecticut Compromise

Question 12

Representation and taxation were to be based on the “number of free persons” plus three-fifths of the number of “all other persons”

Answer 12

Three-fifths compromise

Question 13

A court order requiring jailers to explain to a judge why they are holding a prisoner in custody

Answer 13

Writ of habeas corpus

Question 14

A feature of the Constitution that requires each of the three branches of government- executive, legislative, and judicial- to be relatively independent of the others so that one cannot control the others

Answer 14

Separation of powers

Question 15

Limits the government’s power by requiring that power be balanced among the different governmental institutions. These institutions constrain one another’s activities

Answer 15

Checks and balances

Question 16

A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws

Answer 16

Republic

Question 17

Supporters of the U.S. Constitution

Answer 17

Federalists

Question 18

Opponents of the U.S. Constitution

Answer 18

Anti-Federalists

Question 19

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to some of the Anti-Federalist concerns. They define basic liberties and protect individual rights

Answer 19

The Bill of Rights

Question 20

The constitutional amendment passed but not ratified by Congress in 1972 stating that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Answer 20

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Question 21

A case in which Chief Justice John Marshall and his associates first asserted the right of the Supreme Court to determine the meaning of the U.S. Constitution

Answer 21

Marbury vs. Madison

Question 22

The power of the courts to determine whether acts of Congress , and by the implication of the executive, are in accord with the U.S. Constitution

Answer 22

Judicial review

Question 23

Articles written to convince others to support the new constitution

Answer 23

The Federalist Papers