Unit 2 Test: Constitution Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 3 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

A
  1. Measures passed by Congress had to be approved by 9 of the 13 states
  2. Congress couldn’t collect money via taxes; relied on states’s obedience, and couldn’t force them to do anything
  3. The articles were very hard to change because changes required a unanimous vote.
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2
Q

What’s are the 2 strengths of the articles

A
  1. was made of delegates chosen by the states, and they could conduct foreign affairs, make treaties, declare war, maintain an army and a navy, coin money
  2. kept country together
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3
Q

What is the articles of confederation

A

the first constitution of the USA

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4
Q

when was the articles of confederation passed and by who

A

in 1777 by the same continental congress that passed the declaration of independence

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5
Q

what are the states fear in creating a national government, and how does to address this fear

A

that their needs would be ignored by a too strong government, and it would create an abuse of power. The articles addressed this by giving a lot of power to states.

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6
Q

what’s the land ordinance of 1785

A

land will be surveyed, and divided into six square mile grid. each township was split into 36 sections of one square mile each, and 16th was for school. resulted in orderly settlement of north west.

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7
Q

what’s the northwest ordinance of 1787

A

when congress created a procedure for admission of new states into the Union

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8
Q

how many people have to live in a territory to become a state

A

60,000

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9
Q

what was forbidden in the territories of the Old Northwest

A

slavery

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10
Q

what’s the philadelphia convention

A

when state representatives decided to meet in 1787 to create a new government rather than fix articles.

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11
Q

what are the 6 key figures of the philadelphia convention

A

george washington, james madison, alexander hamilton, ben franklin, george mason, roger sherman

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12
Q

what’s the virginia plan

A

to base representation in congress on each states population. it was favoured by states with large populations

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13
Q

what’s the new jersey plan

A

representation is equal for all states. was favoured by states with small populations

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14
Q

what’s the great compromise

A

when they decided to allocate two people to the senate for each state, and house representatives based on population.

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15
Q

what’s the 3/5 compromise

A

when they counted slaves as 3/5 of a person for population counting.

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16
Q

what’s federal law

A

national laws that are the supreme law of the land. states have power but can’t contradict federal law. limits the power of the government to those in the constitution.

17
Q

what’s checks and balances

A

avoids a power central government by creating three branches: legislative, executive and judicial

18
Q

what does the legislative branch do

A

make laws

19
Q

what does the executive branch do

A

enforce laws

20
Q

what does the judicial branch do

A

interpret laws

21
Q

what can the legislative branch do to check judicial branch

A

impeach and approve judges

22
Q

what can the legislative branch do to check the executive branch

A

override veto, impeach president

23
Q

how can the executive branch check the judicial branch

A

appoint federal judges

24
Q

how can the executive branch check the legislative branch

A

veto legislation, call congress back

25
Q

how can the judicial branch check the executive branch

A

declare executive actions unconstitutional

26
Q

how can the judicial branch check the legislative branch

A

can declare laws unconstitutional

27
Q

how many people in house of representative

A

total of 435, each state has a minimum of 1. the number is based on state population, and they do 2 yr terms. elected by voters of congressional district

28
Q

how many senators are there

A

2 per state, run for 6 years, elected

29
Q

how many supreme court judges are there

A

9 (not in constitution). they serve lifetime terms

30
Q

what powers are denied to national government

A

changing state boundaries, taxing exports, shorten bill of rights

31
Q

powers denied to state government

A

coin money, tax imports/exports, enter into treaties, tax federal govt agencies

32
Q

powers denied to both

A

grant titles of nobility, deny due process, pass bill of attainder, suspend the writ of habeas corpus, pass ex post facto laws

33
Q

what is the amendment process

A

how the condition can be formally amended, as stated in article 5.

34
Q

how to propose an amendment

A

pass 2/3 of the house of reps, or pass 2/3 of the states at a national constitution convention.

35
Q

how to ratify a amendment

A

3/4 of state legislatures must vote yes

36
Q

what’s judicial review

A

the supreme court reviews cases which involve possible conflicts with the constitution and federal laws

the supreme court can declare laws unconstitutional

37
Q

what is the unwritten constitution

A

the norm that isn’t actually part of constitution; presidential cabinet, political parties, judicial review

38
Q

what are the 8 major principles of the constitution

A

popular sovereignty, representative government, limited government, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameralism, judicial review

39
Q

what is popular sovereignty

A

government that may only act with the consent of the governed