Study Guide: Establishment and Origins of Gov’t 2019-2020
Directions: Highlight correct multiple choice and fill in the blank answers and then type your support for
each answer you chose in the text box.
1. (SS.7.C.1.5) Why would it have been difficult to make this type of change under the Articles of
Confederation?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Congress had no power to regulate trade.
A change to the Articles would have required a unanimous vote of the 13 states.
The government did not have an executive branch.
A change to the Articles would have required votes of 9 of the 13 states.
2. (SS.7.C.1.5) The diagram below shows steps leading to a historical event.
Which event completes the diagram?
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3. (SS.7.C.1.5) Why was the government’s lack of authority to regulate commerce a weakness of the Articles of
Confederation?
A. The states’ authority to impose taxes decreased trade.
B. The legislature gave too much power to larger states.
C. The president’s authority to collect taxes unfairly burdened the poor.
D. The national court system unfairly prosecuted trade laws.
4. (SS.7.C.1.5) Which weakness of the Articles of Confederation led to Shays’s Rebellion?
A. The national government lacked the power to regulate trade.
B. The national government lacked the power to tax.
C. The national government lacked a national court system.
D. The national government lacked central leadership.
5. (SS.7.C.1.5) How did the Americans’ experience under British rule influence the form of government they
established under the Articles of Confederation?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The new central government was not able to tax citizens as the British government had tried to do.
The new legislature had two houses, just like British Parliament.
The states were sovereign, just as the colonies had been under British rule.
The new central government was not given any power to direct the military.
6. (SS.7.C.1.5) List 5 of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
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7. (SS.7.C.1.5) The image below is from a popular almanac in 1787. It shows Captain Daniel Shays.
Source: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Why did Shays’s Rebellion send a wave of fear among wealthy merchants and landowners?
A.
B.
C.
D.
There was no national army to put down domestic unrest if it spread.
Bankers and other lenders feared the loss of loans to their national government.
Officers worried about losing their back pay.
Shays planned to take money from the rich and give it to the poor.
8. (SS.7.C.1.5) Which justification would the Framers have used to support the creation of the Articles of
Confederation?
A. The British had large standing armies, so the Articles created a national military to protect the country.
B. Parliament imposed taxes without the colonists consent, so the colonists created the Articles to pass
taxes without citizens consent.
C. The colonists lived under a tyrannical rule of the British so they decided to use an opposite model of
government.
D. The King suspended trial by jury so the colonists decided a judiciary was not needed when solving
disputes between states.
9. (SS.7.C.1.5) Which weakness of the Articles of Confederation was addressed by the Constitution?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The continuation of slavery
The absence of a balanced budget
The need to strengthen the power of the states
The lack of a national court system
10. (SS.7.C.1.5) If the United States still operated under the Articles of Confederation, which situation could
occur?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Interstate trade would be strictly controlled by the Congress.
Each state could adopt its own rules for becoming a citizen.
The president’s authority would be expanded as commander and chief.
The FBI and other national police agencies would be able to search people without warrants.
11. (SS.7.C.1.5) How did the U.S. Constitution address the problem under the Articles of Confederation that
Congress had no power to ensure its laws were followed by the states?
A.
B.
C.
D.
It required the president to resolve disputes between states.
It required unanimous consent of states to create new laws.
It created an executive branch to enforce laws.
It gave each state sovereign authority over its laws.
12. (SS.7.C.1.5) The cartoon below shows weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
Which document resolved the weaknesses shown in the cartoon?
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