AP Government
Worksheet Chapter 2: The Constitution
Answer the following questions. There are three false responses in the true and false
section.
7)
1) In the colonial period, most political power was
held by
a) interest groups b) small farmers
c) large landholders d) lawyers
2) The sharpest inequality during the colonial
period was represented by
a) land ownership
b) the poverty of yeoman farmers
c) slavery
d) women
3) Locke, and later Jefferson, argued that the right
to revolt against a tyrannical ruler could be
justified by an appeal to
a) the Bill of Rights
b) laws passed by the Continental Congress
c) natural law
d) common sense.
4) The Declaration of Independence includes the
a) Bill of Rights
b) idea of checks an balances
c) first laws passed by a United States
government
d) assertion of people's natural rights.
5) Among the conditions that contributed to the call
for the Constitutional Convention was the
a) Power shift from yeoman farmers to wealthy
landowners.
b) Economic turmoil caused by state
legislatures favored creditors and created
more debt.
c) Shift of power from wealthy landowners to
yeoman farmers, accompanied by economic
turmoil and state laws favoring debtors.
d) Decreasing economic viability of slavery
.
6) Major factors promoting the downfall of the
Continental Congress were
a) Shays' Rebellion and worthless paper
money.
b) Military weakness and territorial expansion.
c) Slavery and paper money
d) Congress's taxing too much and too often.
The Constitutional Convention's agenda dealt
mainly with
a) economic and environmental policies.
b) equality, foreign affairs, and local
governmental power.
c) economic, global, and energy policies
d) economic, equality, and global policies.
8)
One difference between the New Jersey and the
Virginia Plans was
a) The New Jersey plan called for each state to
be equally represented in Congress, and the
Virginia plan tied representation to
population.
b) The New Jersey plan called for a Supreme
Court, and the Virginia plan did not
c) The Virginia plan favored slavery, but the
New Jersey plan did not
d) The Virginia plan was supported by the
states with small populations, but not the New
Jersey plan
.
9) The equality issue of representation was finally
resolved at the Constitutional Convention with
the
a) Connecticut Compromise
b) Creator of equality of states in the electoral
college.
c) Establishment of equal voting rights for all
men.
d) Virginia plan.
10) The Constitutional Convention dealt with slavery
by
a) Prohibiting it beginning twenty years later.
b) Sanctioning it by providing for the return of
escaped slaves
c) Counting the slaves as a full part of the
population for the purposes of representation
in the House.
d) Leaving the subject out of the Constitution
so that the states could decide the issue.
11) The debate at the Philadelphia convention over
political equality was resolved by
a) Leaving voting eligibility up to the
individual states.
b) Forbidding discrimination against white
males
c) Allowing all males, but no females to vote.
d) Permitting all citizens over 21 to vote
12) The Founding Fathers wanted a strong national
government to ensure
a) territorial expansion
b) a stable economy
c) political equality
d) a more equal distribution of wealth
13) Two key elements of the Madisonian model were
to
a) keep as much of the government as possible
beyond the control of a popular majority and
extend the right to vote all
b) Promote state power while separating the
powers of different national institutions
c) Require a system of checks and balances
and extend political equality
d) Keep as much of the government beyond the
control of a popular majority and separate
the powers of different institutions
14) Opposition to ratification of the Constitution was
based on belief that it
a) would give too much power to the states
b) emphasized pluralism, which would threaten
liberty.
c) Would produce democratic elements than
desirable for a strong central government.
d) would produce elite control, weaken the
states, and endanger liberty.
15) To propose a form amendment of the
constitution, one needs to have a
a) Convention called in 3/4 of the states
b) 2/3 vote in Congress
c) 3/4 vote in Congress
d) national convention requested by half of the
states
16) The amendments of the U.S. Constitution have
made it more
a) elitist
b) pluralistic
c) democratic d) hyperpluralistic
17) The most important constitutional changes
incorporated through political practice involve
a) guarantees of a clean environment
b) judicial review
c) economic policies
d) formation of political parties
18) The original Constitution
a) Doesn't emphasize majority rule, but the
amendments move it toward democracy
b) Emphasizes majority rule, but the
amendments limit civil liberties
c) Establishes a democracy, and the
amendments reinforce democracy
d) Contains democratic elements which the
amendments fail to strengthen.
19) The U.S. constitution can be interpreted as
a) a fully democratic document
b) prohibiting elitist influence
c) promoting pluralism based on the ideas of
separation of powers and checks and
balances
d) creating an effective government because of
its hyperpluralistic features.
TRUE/FALSE
20) Equality for citizens existed during the colonial period, but land ownership was still the key to economic and
political power.
21) John Locke influenced the Founding Fathers with his belief that government must be limited and built on the
consent of the governed.
22) The Declaration of Independence paralleled the writings of John Locke in that both advocated the right
revolution and natural rights.
23) Because they were a select group of political and economic notables, the framers of the Constitution were
primarily drawn from the elite of American society.
24) According to Madison and most of the other framers, the principal source of faction is the unequal distribution
of property.
25) Most of the framers at the Constitutional Convention were more concerned with human rights than with
property rights.
26) Central to the thinking that went into the Constitution was the notion that power had to be set against power so
that balanced government would result with no faction dominating.
27) The Connecticut Compromise called for each state to have an equal number of representatives regardless of
land area in one chamber, and representation according to population in a second chamber of Congress.
28) The 3/5's compromise settled the question of how slaves would be counted for the calculation of representation
in the House of Representatives.
29) The framers of the Constitution preferred a limited role of national government in the economic policy area.
30) The Constitution called for the national government to assume the debts of the previous government in order to
spur a capitalistic economy.
31) One of the goals of the Madisonian system of checks and balances was to keep government beyond the direct
control of a majority.
32) The House of Representatives was the only pat of the national government to be directly elected by the voters
under the original Constitution.
33) The nation was sharply divided over whether to ratify the Constitution.
34) There was sharp division within the states over the ratification of the Constitution, with the federalists in favor
an the anti-federalists opposed.
35) The Constitution allows for two alternative methods of proposing and ratifying amendments.
36) Judicial interpretation is an important informal way of amending the Constitution.
37) The effects of the unwritten constitution are illustrated by the influence of political parties in the United States.
38) As originally adopted, the Constitution maximized democratic principles.
FILL IN THE BLANK
39) The measure of economic and political power during the colonial period was __________.
40) Both the Declaration of Independence and the writings of _____________ were built on such concepts as
natural rights, consent of the governed, and limited government.
41) The first constitution under which the United States operated was called the __________.
42) In the decade between 1777 and 1787 power in the states shifted from the old colonial elite to a middle class of
________________________.
43) In the view of the Founding Fathers, the main cause of political conflict was unequal distribution of
___________________.
44) According to the framers, ____________________ was the main purpose of government.
45) The compromise plan that produced a Senate representing the states and a House representing voters was
called the __________________.
46) According to the Constitution,_________________ was expected to be the chief policy-maker in the economic
policy arena.
47) The Madisonian model established separation of powers with a system of ______________ in order to prevent
any one ___________________ from taking control of all the government.
48) At the Constitution Convention, the strongest consensus existed over ___________________ policy.
49) Those who supported the ratification of the Constitution were known as _______________ while
those opposing it were known as __________________.
50) The two stages required for the formal amendment of the Constitution are called ____________ and
___________________.
51) The most common route used to formally amend the Constitution is proposal by a 2/3 vote of
______________ and ratification by 3/4 of ___________________.
52) The two major ways in which the Constitution has changed informally are ___________ and _____________.
53) The power of a court to declare a law unconstitutional is known as the power of ______________ and was
established by the Supreme Court in the case called _______________________.
This page is due the day of the quiz! All work must be HANDWRITTEN
COMPARE AND CONTRAST the following terms (2-3 sentences)
54. US Constitution and Articles of Confederation
55. Natural rights and consent of the governed
56. Separation of powers and checks and balances
57. Federalists and anti-Federalists
58. Marbury v Madison and judicial review
ANSWERS
1) C
2) C
3) C
4) D
5) C
6) A
7) D
8) A
9) A
10) B
11) A
12) B
13) D
14) D
15) B
16) C
17) D
18) A
19) C
False statements- 25,29, 38
39) Property
40) Locke
41) Articles of Confederation
42) Yeoman farmers
43) wealth/property
44) Preservation of property
45) Connecticut
46) Congress
47) Checks and balances/ faction (branch)
48) Economic
49) federalists/ anti-federalists
50) Proposal and ratification
51) Congress/state legislatures
52) Judicial interpretation & political practice
53) Judicial review/ Marbury v Madison