MIDTERM REVIEW
US History and Government Midterm Exam
Test dates:
Jan 12- Essay; Jan 15- multiple choice
1. Enlightenment Ideas
• •Enlightenment
philosophers described how
people are endowed with certain
inalienable natural rights.
• •John Locke “life, liberty, property”
• •Baron deMontesquieu “separation of
powers of government”
• •Idea of the “consent of the governed”
2. Greece and Rome
• Many contributions from Ancient
Greece and Rome to our laws and
our type of government (democracy)
• Greece: direct democracy
• Rome: representative democracy:
have people who represent you
3. Mayflower Compact and House of
Burgesses
• Mayflower Compact and House of
Burgesses= examples of colonial self-rule
• •The House of Burgesses was the first
representative body in the colonies.
• •The Mayflower Compact- examples of
written documents establishing local selfgovernment
4. Common Sense
• Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet
entitled “Common Sense” to convince
people to support the cause of
independence.
5. Declaration of Independence
• NOT a plan of government
• It is a statement of grievances by the
colonists against the British king
• Encouraged colonists to break away
from Britain
• Written by Thomas Jefferson, it was
inspired by John Locke.
6. Articles of Confederation
The first American government
• Strengths
 Provided enough structure for the USA to defeat the
British.
 Decided how to settle new states
 Weaknesses
 States are stronger than the central government.
 Federal government did not have the power to tax.
 Federal government did not have the power to raise an
army.
7. Great Compromise
• Question arose regarding representation:
should representation in Congress be equal
between states or proportionate to the
population?
• Compromise: a bicameral (2 house)
legislature
• Senate: Each state gets 2 votes.
• House of Representatives: representation
by population
8. Federalist Papers
• Written by Hamilton, Adams, Jay to
encourage people to ratify the
Constitution.
9. Compare Articles of Confederation to
Constitution
• Articles of Confederation
• Strong state governments
• weak central govt
• No executive or judicial branches
• No common currency
Constitution
• 3 branches
Bill of Rights
• Strong central govt
10. Bill of Rights
• First ten amendments to the
Constitution
• Demanded by Anti-Federalists since it
offers protections from government
• Some amendments that give you
individual liberties are:
• Free speech, press, religion,
assembly
11. Bicameral
• Two houses
• Ex. Two houses of Congress
• House of Representatives
• Senate
• These houses can check up on each
other too.
• Nebraska is a unicameral state (one
house)
12. Legislative Branch responsibilities
• Make laws
• Ratify treaties
• Declare war
• Etc
• House of Rep. and Senate= legislature
13. Senate vs. House of Rep.
• Two houses make laws = bicameral
legislature
• Why have two houses?
• They have different roles in law-making process
• Each represents people differently
• Senate- 2 per state
• House of Rep – based on population
• (result of Great Compromise)
14. President’s Responsibilities
• The executive branch (president and
administration) has the power to make
treaties, command the armed forces, make
appointments, suggest Supreme Court
nominees, suggest legislation, create the
budget, and veto laws.
15. Powers of Supreme Court
• The role of the judicial branch is to interpret
the Constitution. The Supreme Court
decides if a law or action of the president or
Congress is unconstitutional
16. Marbury v. Madison
John Marshall was the 1st chief justice of the
Supreme Court.
• His decisions strengthened the power of
the federal government.
• Marbury v. Madison established the power
of judicial review which allowed the
Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution.
17. Checks and Balances
• The Constitution arranges for each
branch of government to be checked
by another branch so that no one
branch can get too powerful.
18. Federalism
• Federalism is the division of power between the
federal, state, and local governments.
• It is NOT the separation of powers between
branches of government
• HINT: Think of the “L” in Federal and remember
“L” in Levels of Government.
• States are responsible for many things such as
education, licensing, marriage rules etc.
19. Amending process
• 2/3 of both the Senate and House of
Representatives need to approve an
amendment to the Constitution
• Then the amendment is sent to the states
for ratification. ¾ of the states need to ratify
it for it.
• WHY do we have this process?
• Allows our government to adapt to changes.
Keep current with the times.
20. Implied powers
• powers not specifically given to the federal
government, but can be interpreted through
the elastic clause as “necessary and
proper.”
• Also allows the government to change with
the times. Keep current and relevant.
21. Elastic clause
• This clause gives the federal government the
power to take on extra powers in the best interest
of the nation.
• “necessary and proper”
• Loose constructionists favor a wide use of the
elastic clause.
• Strict constructionists do not want the federal
government expanding their powers.
22. Electoral college
• People do not vote directly for the president.
Instead, people vote for an elector and the elector
votes for the president. It’s all or nothing in terms
of electoral votes from a state.
• A candidate either wins the state and gets all the
votes or gets nothing.
23. Unwritten constitution
• Part of government practice but not in the
Constitution such as
• Cabinet positions
• political parties
• Judicial review
• Congressional committees
24. Alexander Hamilton
• Was Secretary of Treasury under
Washington
• Four Part Financial/ Economic Plan
1.Federal government assumes the war
debts of the states.
2.National Bank
3.Excise tax on whiskey
4.Protective Tariff- tax on imports
25. Precedents under Washington
• George Washington began a few
precedents which are not part of the
Constitution but have always been in place
such as:
• Cabinet positions/ advisors
• 2-term presidency (later changed)
• Foreign policy of neutrality and no alliances
26. Washington’s Farewell Address
• Promoted neutrality in foreign
affairs
• No alliances with other nations
27. Whiskey Rebellion
• Farmers rebelled at the federal
government’s “Whiskey Tax”
• It was an excise tax on whiskey
• Washington had federal troops put
down the rebellion to show the
strength of the federal government
• (He means business!)
28 Jefferson and Hamilton
• Their disagreements are the basis of our
political party system
• Hamilton (Federalist)
• Jefferson (Democratic-Republicans)
29. Monroe Doctrine
• President James Monroe’s doctrine warned
European powers about future colonization in the
western hemisphere.
• •It said that the U.S. would stay out of European
affairs.
• •It was designed to help preserve the
independence won by several Latin American
countries.
• •It subtly threatened U.S. military intervention if
Europe tried to colonize the western hemisphere.
30. Spoils system
• “to the victor belongs the spoils”
• Reward your supporters with
positions/jobs in government
• Jackson viewed this as an
expansion of job opportunities for
more people.
• Saw it as an expansion of
democracy
31. Andrew Jackson
• Common Man’s president
• Spoils system used
• Time of growing sectional conflict
• Opposed National Bank
• Used veto many times
• Indian Removal Act
32.John Marshall
• John Marshall was the 1st chief
justice of the Supreme Court.
• •Marshall’s decisions strengthened
the power of the federal
government.
33. Missouri Compromise (1820) and
Compromise of 1850
Key issue – slavery or no slavery
Missouri Compromise
• Missouri joined the Union as a slave state and Maine
joined the Union as a free state.
• •North of 36’30” there would be no slavery
Compromise 1850
• California came in as a free state; •New Mexico and
Utah territories would be decided by popular
sovereignty
• •Fugitive Slave Law enacted in which Northerners were
supposed to send escaped slaves back south
34. Seneca Falls Convention 1848
• Focused on women’s suffrage and
other rights
• Document “Declaration of
Sentiments” modelled after
Declaration of Independence
35. Manifest destiny
• The belief that God planned for the
United States to spread from sea to
shining sea
• Leads to the nation’s expansion
westward
36. Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase from France
gave the U.S. control of the Mississippi River and
the important
port of New
Orleans.
-Jefferson made
Purchase
against his usual
strict interpretation
of Constitution
37. Indian Removal Act
• The Supreme Court ruled in Worcester v.
Georgia that the Cherokee Indians could
not be forced to give up their land.
• •Andrew Jackson did not enforce the
Supreme Court decision but instead
supported the Indian Removal Act and
forcibly removed the Cherokee Indians to
west of the Mississippi River.
• •The move was called the Trail of Tears.
38. Popular Sovereignty
• People (popular) get to vote for or
against slavery in their state.
• Used in Kansas and Nebraska to
decide if state would be free or slave
• “Bleeding Kansas”
39. Election of 1860
• Republican Abraham Lincoln won the
presidency with the most number of
electoral votes though it was not a
majority of the country.
• •The Democrats split their votes to two
candidates.
• •Immediately following the election,
many southern states seceded (left) the
Union.
40. Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln freed slaves in states still
in rebellion
• Did not free slaves in border states
41. Jim Crow Laws
• Laws segregating blacks and whites
• Separate facilities such as schools, drinking
fountains, etc
• Upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson case
42. Plessy v. Ferguson
• Homer Plessy (1/8 African-American) sat on
a white railroad car and was arrested.
• He said his 14th amendment rights to equal
protection were violated by the segregation
law.
• •The Supreme Court ruled that segregated
facilities was legal provided that it was
equal. (separate but equal allowed)
• Overturned until 1954 with Brown v. Board
of Education- (separate is unequal)
43. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction
• Lenient plan (not harsh); forgiving
• Believed Southern states never left the Union
• 10 % of voters needed to take an oath of loyalty
• Welcome the Confederacy back to the Union
• With malice toward none; with charity for all;
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we
are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care
for him who shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow, and his orphan…” — March 4, 1865 –
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
44. Johnson’s impeachment
• Andrew Johnson was a Southerner so Northern
Radical Republicans didn’t like him.
• •Radical Republicans passed the Tenure of Office
Act making it illegal for a president to fire
someone without approval of Congress.
• •Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
• •Johnson was brought up on impeachment
charges for violating the Tenure of Office Act.
• •He was impeached but not removed
• Big Lesson- politically motivated impeachment (just like
Clinton)
45. Result of Civil War
• North won
• South was in ruins and needed
Reconstruction
• Showed how the federal
government was strong
46. (Add)
Nominating conventions
• A political convention held every four
years by most of the political parties
• The party’s candidate is chosen at the
nominating convention
Terms to know for test
• Strict interpretation of Constitution
• Loose interpretation of Constitution
• Segregation
• Sectionalism
• Legislature
• Interstate
• Intrastate
• Commerce
• Revenue
• Incumbent
• Third-party
terms
• Pardons
• Tariff
• Protective tariff
• Judiciary
• Waived
• Incumbent
• Secession
• Secede
• Extravagant
•
Essay Topics
• Choose three presidents from Washington to Lincoln
• Plan carefully
• How should you begin to plan your essay???
• George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,
James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln.
• Ask: What did they do? Domestic and Foreign policies?
• Impact on the nation? Major laws or major changes?
What was happening at the time?
What should you include in your essay
about presidents?
• Major Domestic Accomplishments
• Major Foreign Accomplishments
• What is special about this president?
• Create a chart or outline about three presidents.