Constitution Test Review

1. Constitution Test Review

2. What was the first government of the United States? • The Articles of Confederation

3. Why were the Articles of Confederation written? • Americans realized they needed a central government to deal with paying soldiers and negotiating treaties.

4. What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? • No chief executive • No power to tax • No court system

5. What had the most power under the Articles, the federal government or the state governments? • State governments

6. What caused Shays’ Rebellion? • Farmers were mad about being taxed too high • People were angry at having their land taken away from them • the government was too weak to do anything about it

7. What was Shays’ rebellion about? • The farmers were having their land taken away because they were in debt. • The continental money was worthless. • They were highly taxed.

8. Why was the Constitutional Convention held? • To discuss ways to improve the Articles of Confederation

9. What city did the Constitutional Convention meet in? • Philadelphia

10. Who presided (led) over the convention? • George Washington

11. What were the two main disagreements about in the Constitutional Convention? • Representation and slavery

12. How many Houses are there in Congress? • 2

13. What was the compromise called that dealt with slavery? • The 3/5 Compromise

14. What did the 3/5 Compromise do? • It allowed the southern states to count each slave as 3/5 of a person so they could have more representatives in the House of Representatives

15. What are the first three words of the Constitution? • We the people

16. What is the introduction to the Constitution called? • The Preamble

17. What branch is Congress? • Legislative branch

18. How many branches of government are there? • 3

19. What branch makes the laws? • Legislative branch

20. Who is in charge of the Executive Branch? • The president

21. How many representatives serve in the House? • 435

22. How old must a member of the House be? • 25

23. How many senators are there from each state? • 2

24. How many total senators are there? • 100

25. How long is a senator’s term of office? • 6 years

26. How old must a senator be to be elected? • 30

27. How long is the president’s term of office? • 4 years

28. How many terms can a president serve? • 2

29. How old must a person be to become president? • 35

30. What requirements are there to be elected president? • A citizen by birth • At least 35 years old

31. What branch is the Supreme Court? • judicial

32. The Supreme Court ______ the laws or decides if they are ____ • interprets • fair

33. The president nominates Supreme Court justices and they are approved by the … • Senate

34. Who is government based on the consent of? • The people

35. How long are Supreme Court justices appointed for? • life

36. How many amendments to the Constitution have there been? • 27

37. What are the first ten amendments to the Constitution called? • The Bill of Rights

38. Why were the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? • Many states wouldn’t sign the Constitution without a bill of rights • Many people believed it was needed to limit the power of the national government. • The writers of the Constitution wanted to protect the people’s personal rights and freedoms.

39. Name the rights the 1st Amendment guarantees. • Freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, petition

40. What does the 2nd Amendment guarantee? • The right to own a gun

41. What does the 4th Amendment protect? • Freedom from search or seizure without a warrant

42. The 5th Amendment contains the double jeopardy clause. What does that mean? • If you are found not guilty, you cannot be tried again for the same crime.

43. Thomas Jefferson said there was a wall of separation between • Chuch and state