Constition REVIEW

Question 1

Powers of the AOC

Answer 1

• Adopted in 1777 by Congress
• 1st system of government
• Established a weak federal government; no national executive/judiciary power
• Each state has a delegation known as Congress
• Congress had the power to declare war, sign treaties, and raise armies
• Congress had no permanent home
• Approval and amending articles require an ominous consent from 13 states

Question 2

Weaknesses of the AOC

Answer 2

• One vote per state, regardless of population/wealth (equal NOT EQUITABLE, wanted EQUITY)
• No power or tax
• No power to regulate trade
• No national court system
• Lack of power to enforce articles
  *A 9/13 majority needed to pass laws
• Refused to meet financial requests of Congress
• Made agreements with foreign governments without Congressional approval
• Organized their own military forces
• Taxed or banned goods from other states
• Printed their own money, without backing

Question 3

Successes of the AOC

Answer 3

• Land Ordinance of 1785 arranged land into townships
• 1787: Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance → new Northwest Territory
  sets up the procedure for how an area becomes a state
• Guaranteed freedom of religion, property rights, and BANNED slavery
• South Carolina: doesn’t agree b/c they want slavery

Question 4

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 4

• Massachusetts RAISED TAXES rather than issue paper
• Poor farmers could NOT pay their debts and faced the loss of their farms
• 1786: Daniel Shays and 1200 farmers shutdown country courthouses to prevent foreclosures
  this stopped their foreclosures from being issued → saved their livelihood
• The government hired troops to stop the rebellion
• Problems: Government using money their don’t have and government has to personally hire troops(no police); they don’t have a police force no militia to call for help.
• Merchants and artisans began to argue for a stronger central government

Question 5

Constitutional Convention

Answer 5

• 1787: Delegates met in Philadelphia to revise the AOC at the Convention
• Framers of the Constitution: States decided the size of their own delegation
• Rhode Island DID NOT attend (Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Adams DIDN’T ATTEND)
• Washington unanimously voted as chairperson
• Meetings kept secret from the public
• Lasts 4 years
• Issues discussed: Slavery and slave trade? Representation? Revise AOC or start over?

Question 6

Framers

Answer 6

The 55 delegates at the Constitutional Convention for the Constitution

Question 7

Branches of Government

Answer 7

Legislative
Executive
Judicial

Question 8

Article 1

Answer 8

Creates the legislative branch

Question 9

Article 2

Answer 9

Creates the executive branch

Question 10

Article 3

Answer 10

Creates the judicial branch

Question 11

Virginia Plan

Answer 11

• Said the number of representatives for each state would reflect that state’s population: equitable
• Proposed eliminating the AOC and creating a new national government
• Proposed that the legislature be divided into two houses and the voters in each state elect the member of the first house
• House of Representatives

Question 12

New Jersey Plan

Answer 12

• Said that Congress would have a single house in which each state was equally represented - equal NOT equitable
• Did not abandon AOC but modified them to make a stronger central government
• Opposed representation based on the population of the state
• The Senate

Question 13

House of Representatives

Answer 13

• Based on population
• 435 congressmen
• Term of 2 years

Question 14

The Senate

Answer 14

• 100 senators
• Terms of 6 years
• No limit for how many terms they can serve

Question 15

NJ Representatives

Answer 15

• Frank Pallone
• Christopher Smith
• Andrew Kim

Question 16

NJ Senators

Answer 16

• Cory Booker
• Robert Menendez

Question 17

Electoral College

Answer 17

Votes based on # of Representatives and Senators per state

Question 18

3/5 Compromise

Answer 18

• Every 5 enslaved people would count as 3 free people for determining representation and taxes
• Increases southern political power in HOR and electoral college in exchange for higher southern taxes
• In 12 of the first 16 presidential elections, a southern slave owner won

Question 19

The Great Compromise

Answer 19

• Proposed a two house legislature consisting of two houses
• House of Reps : based on population
• The Senate: equal representation between states
• Southern states also want constitutional guarantee that the estates would return escaped slaves(Fugitive Slave Clause)
• Northerners must bring slave runaways back to the Southerners

Question 20

The Amendment Process

Answer 20

• Must be proposed by ⅔ of both houses of Congress(⅔ of 535)
• Has to be ratified by ¾ of the states to be approved
• Everyone had to agree on the amendments

Question 21

Federalism

Answer 21

Our government operates with a dual system of both state and national government
EX. the Amendment process(congress → states)

Question 22

Judicial Review

Answer 22

• Established by Marbury vs. Madison
• Supreme court’s ability to decide constitutionality of law
  EX. unconstitutional/constitutional of segregation

Question 23

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Answer 23

• Said Congress was unconstitutional
• Established judicial review
• Expanded the Power of the Supreme Court by establishing the right to overturn acts of Congress

Question 24

Checks and balances

Answer 24

Legislative branch
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Creates lower federal courts, can impeach/remove judges
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can override presidential veto, ratifies treaties
Executive branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can propose laws, can veto laws
* ✓ on Jud. branch → Appoints federal judges, can grant pardons to federal offenders
Judicial branch
* ✓ on Leg. branch → Can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional
* ✓ on Exc. branch → Can declare executive actions unconstitutional

Question 25

Limited Government

Answer 25

The government only has the powers the people give it.
EX. the government can’t tell us what clothes to wear or what pictures to hang in our homes

Question 26

Popular Sovereignty

Answer 26

Power derives from consent of the government
EX. voting

Question 27

Separation of Powers

Answer 27

• 3 branches with separate and distinct powers, framework of LIMITED GOVERN.
• The Legislative, executive, and judicial branches