Modules 4-5

Question 1

What does America’s Creed state is the purpose of Government?

Answer 1

to secure natural rights (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) based off their consent of the American people.

Question 2

According to that creed, what do the people have the right to do when confronted with a government that is destructive of the ends which governments should serve?

Answer 2

the people have a right to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government.

Question 3

First document to be ratified? Last?

Answer 3

Declaration of Independence (1st) and Bill of Rights (last)

Question 4

What are the 3 design principles of the original state constitutions?

Answer 4

1. Tightly Democratically Controlled Legislatures
2. Separation of Powers (in Theory)/Legislative Dominance (in Reality)
3. Declarations of Individual Rights

Question 5

Were most revolutionary state legislatures bicameral or unicameral?

Answer 5

all states except 2 were bicameral

Question 6

Why did the legislative branches tend to dominate the executive and judicial branches? (no real separation of powers)

Answer 6

because legislative branch was “running the show” and no one could stop them from acting unlawfully (they couldn’t be effectually checked and restrained if they transcended their legal limits).

Question 7

Civil Liberties & were they listed?

Answer 7

legal rights that are designed to protect individuals from government abuse. (Examples: the free exercise of religion, freedom of the press and trial by jury)– and yes they were listed!

Question 8

Articles of Confederation

Answer 8

The first constitution for the central government of the United States, which operated between 1781 and 1788.

Question 9

The Critical Period

Answer 9

A brief time after the Revolutionary War which several developments—including the apparent instability of the union, poor economic conditions, and political conflicts and armed rebellions at the state level—led many to worry that the Americans’ revolutionary experiment in democratic government was on the verge of ending in disaster.

Question 10

How did the Critical Period lead to the Constitutional Convention in 1787?

Answer 10

A growing sense that the system was dysfunctional led Madison and Alexander Hamilton to organize a small convention in Annapolis, Maryland in September of 1786 to discuss the need for reforming the Articles of Confederation. Although only twelve delegates from five states attended the Annapolis Convention, Congress would follow the Convention’s recommendation by calling for a full-scale Constitutional Convention to convene in Philadelphia in May of 1787.

Question 11

What was “the great and radical vice” in the design of the Articles of Confederation according to Alexander Hamilton?

Answer 11

Having a confederacy structure. It contributes to the weakness because the central government was unable to effectively exercise power over the state governments

Question 12

First Five Design Principles of the Articles of Confederation (+1)

Answer 12

Confederal Structure, No Distinct Branches of Government (Simply a Unicameral Legislature), Lack of Clear Supremacy of Treaties and Other National Laws, Tight Control of Congressional Delegates by State Legislatures, Supermajority Voting in Congress, and No Direct Control by People over Congress

Question 13

Confederal Structure

Answer 13

A system with a central government and state governments, but that is set up, so the states maintain as much sovereignty and independence as possible.

Question 14

Supermajority Voting in Congress

Answer 14

The Articles of Confederation stated that for Congress to enact any important policy, the support of a supermajority of nine states (70%) was required.

Question 15

No Direct Control by People over Congress

Answer 15

the Articles of Confederation stated that the people did not elect their representatives in Congress. Instead, every member of Congress was appointed by the state legislatures

Question 16

How did the principle of popular sovereignty help the Founders to get away with “unconstitutionally establishing an entirely new constitution”

Answer 16

the new system they intended to make was going to strengthen the power of the central government and weaken the power of the state governments.

Question 17

The Great Compromise

Answer 17

there would be a bicameral legislature (proposed by Virginia Plan), but each chamber would have a different scheme of representation. The lower chamber (House of Reps) would be based on proportional representations and the upper chamber (Senate) would be based on equal state representations (as proposed by the NJ Plan). Representatives in House would be elected by the people, while two senators for each State would be elected by state legislatures.

Question 18

Which plan decided which chamber?

Answer 18

• Senate (upper chamber) structure=NJ PLAN

* House of Reps (lower chamber) Structure= VA PLAN

Question 19

Why was Constitutional Convention at a stalemate before?

Answer 19

because of large states (Virginia Plan: number of representatives in each state based on the state’s population; proportional representation) and small states (New Jersey Plan: each state has an equal number of votes; equal state representation).

Question 20

What are the four ways the original Constitution protected slavery?

Answer 20

3/5 Clause, Electoral College, Slave Trade Clauses, and Fugitive Slave Clause

Question 21

Who supported and who opposed the US Constitution?

Answer 21

“Federalists” supported ratification of the US Constitution and “Antifederalists” opposed it

Question 22

Representative Democracy

Answer 22

A form of democratic government in which the citizens who make and enforce laws are accountable to, and do so on behalf of the majority of citizens who do not directly participate in making and enforcing laws.

Question 23

Direct Democracy

Answer 23

People hold the power, its direct

Question 24

Why did the founders choose bicameralism?

Answer 24

because it was useful for accommodating the different preferred representation schemes of large and small states, created an “upper house” (i.e., Senate) that was a quasi-aristocratic part of the legislature that would counterbalance the more democratic “lower house” (i.e., House of Representatives).

Question 25

Separation of Powers/ what purposes were served by checks and balances?

Answer 25

to try and keep the branches truly separate from one another by, somewhat paradoxically, giving them a bit of power over one another.

Question 26

Fugitive Slave Clause

Answer 26

granted slave owners a constitutional right to recapture runaway slaves who had fled to other states, including states where slavery was illegal. And, as importantly, it took away the right of states to pass laws to protect and/or emancipate runaway slaves.

Question 27

How did ‘Electoral College’ point in Constitution give more voice to slave states?

Answer 27

The delegates assumed that most voters would be inclined to vote for candidates from their own state and that direct popular election would therefore give candidates from large states an advantage over candidates from small states

Question 28

Three-Fifths Clause

Answer 28

allowed Southern states to count a portion of its enslaved population for purposes of taxation and representation. The compromise gave the South more power than it would have had if enslaved people had not been counted.

Question 29

Which amendments make up the Bill of Rights?

Answer 29

First 10!

Question 30

What are the 3 Amendments known as the “Reconstruction Amendments”?

Answer 30

13th: ended slavery
14th: said that anyone born in the US is a citizen of the US and state in which he/she lives in
15th: voting rights, guaranteed African American men the right to vote

Question 31

What was the last amendment in the Founders’ Constitution?

Answer 31

11th and 12th!
The Last two Founding-Era Amendments
(11th sought to protect state governments from being sued in federal courts by citizens from other states and 12th sought to alter the Electoral College so that it was easier for political parties to elect their favorite candidate for President and another member of the same party as Vice President).

Question 32

Legislative Power, Limits on Federal Government Authority, and Limits on State Government Authority– Article__?

Answer 32

ONE (I):
contains Congress’ “enumerated powers” and the Necessary and Proper Clause, longest part of the constitution, and establishes bicameralism.

Question 33

Presidency– Article__?

Answer 33

TWO (II):
establishes that the executive power is vested in a single individual who serves four-year terms and is selected by the vote of Electors through the system we call “The Electoral College” and enumerates the powers and responsibilities of the President

Question 34

Judiciary– Article__?

Answer 34

THREE (III):
establishes that Congress is responsible for the design of the lower federal court system and determining the number of Supreme Court justices and guarantees individuals the right to trial by jury in federal criminal cases and lays out the basics of federal court jurisdiction and focuses on the judiciary.

Question 35

Constitutional Amendment Procedures– Article__?

Answer 35

FIVE (V):
singles-out two parts of the Constitution that may not be amended and describes the four different pathways by which the Constitution may be amended.