nd
Government
And Influences on…

• A tax added to a foreign good to encourage people to buy American products.

2. Explain the system of checks and balances established by the Constitution – What is “checks and balances?” What is it designed to do? Give an example.
• When each branch of the government checks to make sure the other branches don’t abuse their power.
• Example: Congress passes a crazy law… the President vetos it.

• It gives the people knowledge about our government. If something is wrong, we can try to fix it. Otherwise…we would continue to live in a messed up country forever.

How does the U. S. Constitution help maintain a republican system of government in the U.S.?
• The Republican system is about electing
REPRESENTATIVES to help govern us.
The U.S.

• Men who wrote the constitution spent their time working on something that would benefit the “Greater good” not just something to help themselves.

6. King John of England signed the Magna Carta in 1215. What ideas did the Founding
Fathers borrow from this document to include in the Bill of Rights?
• That all people should have the right to trail by jury of their peers instead of having just the King decide your fate.

7. What are the FIVE rights in the First
Amendment? (have these memorized)
• The Freedoms of Speech, Religion,
Press, Assembly, and Petition

8. Who was John Peter Zenger?
• A newspaper publisher during the colonial days who published TRUE, but damaging things about the governor.

9.
• He was placed in jail for publishing bad, but true, stuff about the governor.

10.
• Freedom of the press! (of course)

11.
• Protect our individual rights aka our unalienable rights!

12.
• EITHER, 2/3rds of the Congress OR
States propose the amendment AND ¾ of the states or Congress must approve the amendment.

13. What powers are included in the judicial branch? What courts are included in the judicial branch?
• The judicial branch INTERPRETS the law – that means they check laws to see if they are CONSITUTIONAL and
FAIR. The supreme court is in the judicial branch.

14.
Explain the problem that resulted in the “Great Compromise.”
What was it? How was it solved? No complainin’! Just answer the questions! 
• The Great Compromise was about how each state would be represented in congress (how many votes – and power – each state would get).
• New Jersey (small states) and Virginia
(big states)
• Created 2 (count ‘em) 2 parts to
Congress: The House of
Representatives and the Senate.

15.
Explain the 3/5ths Compromise. What was it?
What was the argument? Who was arguing.
How was it solved?
• Southern states wanted to count slaves in the population to get more votes in Congress –
Northern states didn’t…but wanted to count them as property so the South would have to pay taxes on them.
• So…only count 3 of every 5 slaves as people for votes in Congress and property for taxes.

16.Which British law enacted on the American colonies led to the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
• The Quartering Act

17.
• What? You don’t know? Get Out!
• A change or addition. You know to the
Constitution… like a “p.s.” in your love letters you write in class instead of the notes you should be writing so you would know the answer to this stupid question!


18. Why did the Framers of the U.S.
Constitution intentionally make the amendment process difficult?
• So people wouldn’t be changing it all the time for dubious (ridiculous) reasons.
Like an amendment to make flag burning illegal or an amendment to say that marriage is a union between a man and a women.
• what? Did I go to far?

19. What is the significance of the
Mayflower Compact?
• It was the first time English people in the new world (America) created “self government”…rules without the king telling them what to do.

• 20. Since the number of representatives states sent to
Congress was based on each state’s population, smaller states felt they were being cheated. To appease the smaller states, the Great Compromise

21.
• Constitutional Convention to fix the cruddy government

22.
• When we VOTE in REPRESENTATIVES to do the job of governing for us.
• Cause you know we don’t have the time to take off work, fly to D.C., study the relevant facts in the bill, attend committee meetings, get barfed on my some junior member of the Senate and, vote… and do it all over again tomorrow.

23. Explain the concept of “separation of powers” in the Constitution. What is it? Why is it important? Give an example of how it works.
• When we split the power of the government into three, equal, parts.
• So no one group or person takes all the power for themselves and begins to abuse our rights
• Legislative makes laws, Executive enforces laws, and Judicial interprets laws

24. What did the U.S.’ weaknesses in the
Articles of Confederation and Shays’
Rebellion lead to?
• The CONSTITUTION!!!!
• We the people… 

25.
Which term best describes the major elements of the
American economy, in which competition, profit, private property, and economic freedom are emphasized?
• Free enterprise! (When people can make their own decisions about what to produce [make] or consume [use] without government interference).

26.
• To come up with an orderly way to settle the Northwest Territory (the land the U.S. got from England after winning the Revolution) and eventually lead to statehood.

27. How did the United States solve the problem of weak central government under the Articles of Confederation?
• We created a Constitution with a strong national government

28.
Explain what is meant by “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain Unalienable Rights”.
• Some things are OBVIOUS…like we are all the same and have rights given to us by god.

29.
• I would find it in the Declaration of
Independence…where would you find it?

30.
• TJ
• Thomas Jefferson

31.
• In 1787 I’m told our Founding Fathers did agree, to write a list of principles for keepin’ people free… The U.S.A. was just starting out a whole brand new country…and so, our people spelled it out the things that we should be…and they called it the…
• Constitution – sing it!

32.
What type of national government did the Federalists want?
• A good one?
• A STRONG one with lots of powers and responsibilities and stuff.

33. Explain the Navigation Acts. Why were they used?
CREATE A SIMPLE MAP to show the trade route under the Navigation Acts.
• The King’s economic policy that allowed the colonies to trade ONLY with
ENGLAND.
• It kept all the MONEY and PROFIT with the King

33. Explain the Navigation Acts. Why were they used?
CREATE A SIMPLE MAP to show the trade route under the Navigation Acts.

34. Describe the land owned by the United
States after the Treaty of Paris (what is the western border to U.S. land?)
• All the land EAST of the Mississippi
River to the Atlantic Ocean

35. Explain the system of “federalism” under the Constitution.
• Federalism is when the Federal government (Washington D.C.) and the
State government (Austin, Texas)
SHARE the power to govern us.

36.
• Duh!
• James Madison!
• Also the 4 th president of the United
States

37. Protection of the unalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of
Independence is provided for in the
• Bill of Rights mon!

38. The Proclamation of 1763 prohibited colonial settlement west of a border that ran roughly along the
• Appalachian mountains, mon.

39. Name four of the “roots of representative government” in U.S. history.
• Magna Carta
• English Bill of Rights
• Mayflower Compact
• House of Burgesses
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

40. Describe the function of the
Northwest Ordinance.
• A law that would help new U.S. territories to become states.
• It leads to “statehood.”

41.
One of the most important problems facing the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was how to balance the
• powers of the federal government with the state government

42.
Which First Amendment right protects citizens who are staging a protest outside a government building?
• Freedom of ASSEMBLY!!!!

43. The Federalist Papers, written by John Jay,
Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in
1787, supported
• A strong national government in the
Constitution.

44. List the advantages the American colonists had over the British in the American
Revolution.
• Fighting on own land
• Using Indian tactics (guerilla warfare)
• French navy helping.

45.
The tax laws that were imposed on the colonists by the British government were viewed as unfair and created support for declaring independence because
• They were taxed without colonial representation in the British parliament.

46.
What power given to the congress in the Constitution was specifically intended to prevent the president from acting against the will of the people?
• The power to write laws (that’s what they do, right?)

47.
Which principle of government is illustrated by creating three branches of government in our Constitution?
• Separation of Powers.

48.
• A ‘loosely’ organized group of states that are more independent than they are connected to one another.

49. The U.S. Constitution provides that each state be represented in the House of
Representatives according to the state’s
• population!, mon.

50. Which amendment would most likely be used to argue against police officers randomly searching homes? (tell the number and briefly describe the right)
• 4 th Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

51. Who or what held all the power in the Articles of Confederation?
• The states.

52. Who were the Anti-Federalists
AND what did they want?
• They opposed ratifying (approving) the new Constitution and wanted to add a
Bill of Rights

53. How does the U.S. Constitution allow the government to raise money?
• By allowing Congress to directly tax the people.

54. What were the two positive things that the Articles of Confederation were able to process?
• They got America through the
Revolution AND
• Passed the Northwest Ordinance.

LAST ONE!!!!!
55. After an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution has been proposed by
Congress or a national convention, it can be ratified by
____________________________.
(who?)
The States.