civics ch.2

Question 1

Unalienable

Answer 1

a human right based on nature or God

Question 2

Republic

Answer 2

a government in which elected representatives make the decisions

Question 3

Judicial review

Answer 3

the power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional

Question 4

Federalism

Answer 4

government authority shared by national and local governments.

Question 5

Checks and balances

Answer 5

authority shared by three branches of government.

Question 6

Separation of powers

Answer 6

constitutional authority is shared by three different branches of government

Question 7

Faction

Answer 7

a group with a distinct political interest.

Question 8

Coalition

Answer 8

an alliance of factions.

Question 9

Habeas corpus

Answer 9

an order to produce an arrested person before a judge.

Question 10

Bill of attainder

Answer 10

a law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime.

Question 11

Ex post facto law

Answer 11

a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when committed.

Question 12

Amendment

Answer 12

a new provision in the constitution that has been ratified by the states.

Question 13

Line item veto

Answer 13

an executive’s ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature.

Question 14

In what ways was the English Civil War a factor in the dissatisfaction the American colonists came to have with the way they were governed by the king of parliament?

Answer 14

During the english civil war the colonies became used to taking care of themselves independently. So when the British came back and started taxing them of things that didn’t affect the colonies, they were mad.

Question 15

Name and explain the primary goal of the American revolution and how it differed from other revolutions like France, Russia, and China.

Answer 15

The primary goal was liberty. It differed from others because they had more complex reasoning/ wanted equality but we just wanted liberty and what we thought were our rights as British citizens.

Question 16

4 general complaints the colonists lodged against the English crown and parliament

Answer 16

-Imposing taxes without their permission
-standing armies
-abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments
-housing the troops

Question 17

How does textbook characterize the “colonial mind” in the years leading up to the American Revolution

Answer 17

They fought to protect natural human rights that are essential to our progress. These rights included life, liberty, and property. They believe they can’t be taken away by any human power, that we are born with them.

Question 18

The Declaration of Independence

Answer 18

-Declaration of Independence in 1776 were the traditional liberties to which they thought they were entitled as British subjects. These liberties included the right to bring their legal cases before truly independent judges rather than ones subordinate to the king; to be free of the burden of having British troops quartered in their homes; to engage in trade without burdensome restrictions; and, of course, to pay no taxes voted by a British Parliament in which they had no direct representation.
-John locke was more influential bc he believed a strong gov wasn’t necessary and that democracy was impossible

Question 19

Real revolution was a fundamental change in the view of the government. What main points constitute that change?

Answer 19

-Government by royal prerogative was rejected; instead, legitimate government would require the consent of the governed.
-Political power could not be exercised on the basis of tradition but only as a result of a direct grant of power contained in a written constitution.
-Human liberty existed before the government was organized, and the government must respect that liberty.
-The legislative branch of government, in which the people were directly represented, should be superior to the executive branch.

Question 20

How many newly independent states adopted written constitutions in 1776?

Answer 20

8

Question 21

What were the significant features of the Pennsylvania state constitution?

Answer 21

The Pennsylvania constitution, adopted in 1776, created the most radically democratic of the new state regimes. All power was given to a one-house (unicameral) legislature, the Assembly, the members of which were elected annually for one- year terms. No legislator could serve more than four years. There was no governor or president, only an Executive Council that had few powers.

Question 22

The constitutional convention

Answer 22

-advertised (and authorized by Congress) as a meeting to revise the Articles; they adjourned four months later having written a wholly new constitution. They had no accepted political theory that would serve the goal of protecting life, liberty, and property
-Shays rebellion- A 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes
-Virginia plan- ​​Proposal to create a strong national government
-New Jersey plan- Proposal to create a weak national government
-Connecticut compromise- Plan to have a popularly elected House based on state population and a state-selected Senate, with two members for each state
-Slaves were only ⅗ of a person

Question 23

Distinguish between enumerated, reserved and concurrent powers as they relate to the U.S. constitution.

Answer 23

-enumerated powers: powers specifically given to the national government alone alone
-reserved powers: powers given to the state government alone
-concurrent powers: powers shared by national and state governments
(all these granted by the constitution)

Question 24

The federalists and antifederalists. What were their respective positions? Who were the prominent federalists? Who does the text note as the prominent antifederalist who warned that the proposed government would come to resemble Hobbe’s Leviathan? Madison’s belief in the…

Answer 24

-Federalists: stronger national government, public good further strengthened by national government to combine the proper order of liberty, justice, and progress;
-Antifederalists: states rights, weaker national government, liberty could be secured only in small republic in which the rulers were physically close to the ruled
-Patrick Henry- anti federalist
-Madison believed that in creating a separation of powers “ambition would be used to check ambition” rested on assumption that humans that humans were imperfect and greedy; argued that liberty is safer in large republics, difference of opinion in large population doesn’t allow tyrannical majority to form and thus preserves liberty

Question 25

Know arguments both for and against adding a bill…

Answer 25

-For: if bill wasn’t promised with constitution not enough states would ratify the constitution
-Against: fear that bill would be seen as limitation on scope of rights and liberties eliminating the need for a constitution

Question 26

Two contemporary views regarding constitutional reform

Answer 26

-reduction and separation of powers causes gridlock
-national government does too much making system less democratic

Question 27

What are the major weaknesses in the articles of confederation?

Answer 27

Each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size. Congress did not have the power to tax. Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. There was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress. There was no national court system. Amendments to the Articles of Confederation required a unanimous vote. Laws required a 9/13 majority to pass in Congress.