Constitution Chapter Quiz

Question 1

What was the purpose of the Annapolis Convention?

Answer 1

to discuss revamping the Articles of Confederation

Question 2

Judicial review is the power of

Answer 2

the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.

Question 3

During the Philadelphia Convention, in order to win concessions from large states, representatives from smaller states like Delaware threatened to

Answer 3

form alliances with foreign nations.

Question 4

what did the delegates do to the articles of confederation at the Annapolis convention?

Answer 4

The delegates strengthened the Articles of Confederation

Question 5

What is the term length of a federal judge?

Answer 5

barring impeachment, life

Question 6

Who possesses the sole power to create revenue bills?

Answer 6

the U.S. Senate

Question 7

The Antifederalists argued that the powers of government should be limited by…

Answer 7

both confining the powers of the federal government to certain narrowly defined areas and adding a
bill of rights to the Constitution.

Question 8

Procedures outlining how to amend the Constitution are found in Article ________.

Answer 8

Article V

Question 9

In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the framers of the federal Constitution

Answer 9

included the elastic clause in the Constitution.

Question 10

What triggered the events that led to the Revolutionary War?

Answer 10

The British raised revenue by increasing the tax rate of the colonies.

Question 11

What is the essential dilemma of a limited government raised by the ratification debate?

Answer 11

a government too weak to do harm also cannot do good

Question 12

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

Answer 12

Samuel Adams

Question 13

The supremacy clause

Answer 13

announces that the Constitution and all laws made under it are superior to any state laws

Question 14

Each of the following was an Antifederalist EXCEPT ________.

A) Patrick Henry
B) John Jay
C) George Mason
D) Richard Henry Lee
E) Elbridge Gerry

Answer 14

D John Jay

Question 15

What did the Three-fifths Compromise do?

Answer 15

It determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and
taxation.

Question 16

What is the most common method of passing an amendment to the Constitution is

Answer 16

passage in both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote, followed by a majority vote in
three-fourths of the state legislature.

Question 17

On the subject of representation, Antifederalists wanted

Answer 17

representative bodies that resembled those represented to the highest degree.

Question 18

As a constitution, the Articles of Confederation were concerned primarily with

Answer 18

limiting the powers of the central government.

Question 19

T/F

The House has the power to overturn a president’s veto while the Senate does not.

Answer 19

False

Question 20

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

Answer 20

Representation would be equal for each state.

Question 21

Who was NOT appointed to help draft the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 21

George Washington

Question 22

What was the Virginia Plan?

Answer 22

The proposed plan at the Philadelphia Convention to create a Congress where representation was distributed according to population.

Question 23

Why did the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention turn down the idea of including a list of citizens’ rights in the Constitution?

Answer 23

They believed that since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers,
further protection of citizens was not needed.

Question 24

The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was ________.

Answer 24

the popular majority

Question 25

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

Answer 25

executive, legislative, and judicial

Question 26

Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable philosophical statement for its time?

Answer 26

It asserted that there were “unalienable rights” that could not be abridged by governments.

Question 27

During the national debate over ratification of the new Constitution, the Federalists supported…

Answer 27

The Constitution and preferred a strong national government

Question 28

Brutus and Federal Farmer were two pseudonyms used by the ________.

Answer 28

Antifederalists

Question 29

Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.

Answer 29

A mixed regime

Question 30

A ________ vote by both houses of Congress and a ratification vote of ________ of the states are required to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Answer 30

two-thirds; three-fourths

Question 31

What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

Answer 31

the amount spent on fighting the French and Indian Wars

Question 32

There are ________ amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Answer 32

27

Question 33

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the states, is called ________.

Answer 33

Federalism

Question 34

________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

Answer 34

John Adams

Question 35

How was political power in Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 35

Each state had an equal vote.

Question 36

The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia Convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.

Answer 36

Connecticut Compromise

Question 37

What is not a constitutional power of the president?

Answer 37

regulate commerce between the states

Question 38

Whose “political gospel” inspired the framers to adopt the concept of the separation of powers?

Answer 38

Montesquieu

Question 39

What was the Stamp Act?

Answer 39

tax on commerce.

Question 40

What best describes the framers’ view of liberty?

Answer 40

Government is needed to create liberty by maintaining order.

Question 41

The 1787 convention to draft a new constitution was held in ________.

Answer 41

Philadelphia

Question 42

What power is not explicitly given to Congress by the Constitution?

Answer 42

The power to abolish state boundaries

Question 43

According to the authors of the text, which sector of society did not have interests that were important to colonial politics?

Answer 43

Slaves

Question 44

____________ is a system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for powers expressly delegated to a national government.

Answer 44

confederation

Question 45

How did the framers attempt to reassure citizens that their views would be represented in the new government created by the Constitution?

Answer 45

By defining the new government’s most important powers, such as collecting taxes, borrowing money, and regulating commerce, as belonging to Congress.

Question 46

Under the United States’ first constitution, ________________

Answer 46

There was no president

Question 47

The ability of the president to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of _____________

Answer 47

checks and balances

Question 48

Why was Shays’s Rebellion significant?

Answer 48

Because it convinced many observers that the government under the Articles of Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive

And because it helped to make the Philadelphia Convention successful