Name: _______________________________
Period: ______________
Constitution Test #1
_____1. Voting Rights
_____2. Form of government in which the people
hold the power
_____3. Dividing power between branches of
government to ensure no one branch or
person becomes too powerful
_____4. Formal approval
_____5. Movement in Europe that emphasized the
importance of science and reason to solve
problems. Many ideas of this movement
influenced the political thought of our
Founding Fathers.
A. Depression
B. Separation of
Powers
C. Debtors
D. Interstate
commerce
E. Suffrage
F. Constitution
G. Republic
H. Ratification
I. Tariffs
J. Enlightenment
_____6. Taxes on imports and exports
_____7. Trade between the states
_____8. Sharp drop in economic activity
_____9. People who owe money
_____10. A set of basic principles that determine
the powers of a government
_____11. The ___________ was a “loose confederation of states” that governed the
states in the years immediately following the Revolutionary War.
A. Constitution
B. Articles of Confederation C. Rule Book
D. Law
_____12. Which of the following was a power given to the Confederation Congress
under the Articles of Confederation?
A. Coin Money
B .Draft Troops
C. Declare War
D. Tax income
_____13. Which of the following was a weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
A. Could not force states to provide money and troops for defense
B. Could not regulate interstate trade
Name: _______________________________
Period: ______________
C. Required unanimous consent for change
D. All of the above are weaknesses of the Articles
_____14. Which of the following contributed to Shays’ Rebellion?
A. Massachusetts refused to print paper money.
B. Massachusetts chose to pay of war debts by using a property tax.
C. The federal government paid soldiers with land instead of money after the
Revolutionary War
D. All of the above
_____15. Section 16 of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is provided for use for _____.
A. Church
B. Gambling
C. Sports
D. Schools
_____16. The most important lasting effect of the Northwest Ordinance is that it ______.
A. Gave the land to Native Americans
B. Establishes how a territory becomes a state
C. Erased all debt from the Revolution
D. Declared all the land would be a nature preserve
_____17. How many states were formed out of the Northwest Territory?
A. 1
B. 3
C. 5
D. 7
_____18. The Connecticut Plan, or Great Compromise, resolved the conflict of _______.
A. Taxes
B. Slavery
C. Congressional representation
D. Education
_____19. The 3/5 Compromise stated that slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for
purposes of taxation and ___________.
A. Education
B. Census
C. Voting
D. Representation
_____20. The president vetoes a bill from Congress. This is an example of _____.
A. An executive check on the legislative branch
B. A legislative check on the executive branch
C. An executive check on the judicial branch
D. A judicial check on the legislative branch
_____21. ______________ is a system to ensure that one branch does not become too
powerful.
A. Voting
B. Veto
C. Checks and balances
D. Judicial Review
_____22. The people who supported ratification of the Constitution were called ______.
A. Crazy
B. Federalists
C. Anti-Federalists D. Constitutionalists
_____23. The Anti-Federalists refused to support the constitution until a ______ was
added.
A. Bill of Rights
B. Debate Clause
C. Slavery Clause
D. New Jersey Plan
Name: _______________________________
Period: ______________
_____24. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
A. Executive
B. Judicial
C. Legislative
D. No branch is more powerful thanks to a system of checks and balances
_____25. The Northwest Ordinance _________ slavery in the Northwest Territory.
A. encouraged
B. banned
C. rewarded D. said nothing about
_____26. Which of the following pairs of people were outspoken Anti-Federalists?
A. John Jay and Patrick Henry
B. Patrick Henry and George Washington
C. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
D. Sam Adams and Patrick Henry
_____27. Which of the following pairs of people were outspoken Federalists?
A. John Jay and Patrick Henry
B. Patrick Henry and George Washington
C. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
D. Sam Adams and Patrick Henry
_____28. What is another name for the “unalienable rights” Jefferson wrote about in the
Declaration of Independence?
A. Civil Rights
B. Natural Rights
C. Political Rights
D. Right of Way
_____29. The assertion of that principle, at that time, was the word, "fitly spoken" which
has proved an "apple of gold" to us.
According to Lincoln, the “apple of gold” to America is the ___________.
Union
B. Constitution
C. Declaration
D. Principle of liberty to all
_____30. There was a compromise during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
about the International Slave Trade. The Southern delegates agreed to allow bills to
become law with a simple majority of both houses of Congress in exchange for what?
A. No laws forbidding the international slave trade for 20 years.
B. The legalization of slavery in all states.
C. The legalization of slavery in the Northwest Territory
D. The slave trade to be legal forever
31. Name two Enlightenment thinkers and one contribution each made that is still
incorporated in our government today.
Name: _______________________________
Period: ______________
32. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States national government was
weaker than each of the state governments.
In your Answer Document, identify one weakness of the national government and
explain why this weakness was a problem for the nation.
33. The Framers began writing the Constitution of the United States in May 1787, but it
was not ratified by all thirteen states until May 1790. One of the issues debated during
the Constitutional Convention was the congressional representation of enslaved Africans.
In your Answer Document, explain the positions of both Northern delegates and Southern
delegates on the issue of congressional representation of enslaved Africans.
34. Another issue debated during the Constitutional Convention was how states would
have representation in Congress. Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented a plan, and
William Patterson of New Jersey submitted a counter proposal. Explain the major
components of each of those plans, and then explain how the “Great Compromise” solved
the issue.
Bonus: (2 pts. Each)
1. What is another name for the “Great Compromise?”
2. Which plan for representation is called the “large state plan?”
3. What did Daniel Shays do for a living before he fought in the
Revolutionary War?
4. What was the first state formed from the Northwest Territory?
5. What British Document signed by King John in 1215 was the first to
limit the power of the monarchy?