Chapter 5
Study Guide Answers
1. What is in the
Legislative branch?
This branch of government makes
the laws and includes:
1. House of Representatives
2. Senate
2. What procedure did the
Northwest Ordinance establish?
How territories could become a
state.
3. What was the trade relationship
between Britain & America in the
late 1700’s?
Britain placed high tariffs
(import/export taxes) on American
goods and closed many British
ports to American shipping.
4. What did the
3/5ths Compromise do?
For population purposes, only 3 of
every 5 slaves were counted in the
census.
5. How would the Virginia Plan
set up the government?
Representation would be
determined by population only.
6. How did the Articles of
Confederation make it hard to
defend our country?
There was no standing national
military and no guaranteed income
for the Federal treasury.
7. How did the Federalists feel
about the Constitution?
They felt like it was a good balance
between the branches of
government.
8. How was representation set up
in the New Jersey plan?
Each state had equal
representation.
9. What argument did the
Federalists Papers make to
reassure Americans about the
federal government?
That the Federal government
would not overpower the States.
10. What was the original purpose
of the Constitutional Convention?
To improve the Articles of
Confederation.
11. How did the Great Compromise
settle the debate about
representation?
States would have both equal
representation in the Senate, and
size representation in the House of
Representatives.
12. Who closed the
Mississippi River to the US?
Spain
13. What was the cause
of Shay’s Rebellion?
Excessive taxation on property
ownership to pay for debts held by
the states.
14. Why are there checks and
balances in the Constitution?
To insure no one branch of
government has an excessive
amount of power.
15. Southern states threatened
to leave the Union if the
Constitution did what?
Outlawed slavery
16. What three groups were left
out of the Constitutional
Convention?
• Native Americans
• African Americans
• Women
17. What is the Bill of Rights?
The first ten amendments to the
constitution that guarantee
individual rights.
18. What signs showed the US in
economic depression after the
Revolutionary War?
Trade activity was minimal and
unemployment was on the rise.
19. Why was ratification of the
Articles of Confederation slow?
Due to concerns about claims to
western lands made by many
colonies.
20. What did Shay’s Rebellion
cause?
The leaders began to acknowledge
that the Articles of Confederation
needed to be improved.
21. How did George Mason feel
about the Constitution?
He felt that the Constitution would
intrude on individual rights.
22. What was the
Articles of Confederation?
The constitution of our first
national government.
23. What is federalism?
Federalism is the sharing of power
between a central government and
the states that make up a country.
24. Why did the Antifederalists
dislike the Constitution?
They felt that the Constitution
would allow the violation of
individual rights.
25. What is an amendment?
An official change to the
constitution.
26. The 3/5ths compromise settled
the issue of counting slaves for
what?
Determining population and thus
the number of representatives.
27. Who created the Virginia
Statute for Religious Freedom?
Thomas Jefferson
28. Who proposed the
New Jersey plan?
William Paterson
29. What document said
even kings and queens
were not above the law?
Magna Carta
30. What essays were written to
prove the Constitution would not
overpower the states?
The Federalists Papers
31. How did the ideals of the
Enlightenment influence the
birth of the first government
of the United States?
Consent of the governed and
separation of powers.
32. Examples of the
philosophers and their ideas.
• John Locke said a government could
only exist with the consent of the
governed.
• Baron de Montesquieu believed that
liberty could only be realized with
there was a separation of powers
within the government.
33. What are the three branches of
government established under the
Constitution?
• Legislative
• Judicial
• Executive
34. What does each branch do?
• Judicial: interprets the laws
• Executive: enforces the laws
• Legislative: makes the laws
35. Who is in each branch?
• Legislative: House of
Representatives and the Senate
• Judicial: US Supreme Court
• Executive: the President
Chapter 5 Test
Friday, 11/2