Civics Literacy Review #2

Use the passage below, from a historical document, to answer the question that follows.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Which philosophocal movement best reflects the ideals in the passage?

• Transcendentalism

• Reformation

• Preogressivism

• Enlightenment

Use the passage below, which was included in the Declaration of Sentiments adopted at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, to answer the question that follows.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Which of the following documents influenced the aims and strategies of the authors of the Declaration of Sentiments?

• Northwest Ordinance

• Articles of Confederation

• U.S. Constitution

• Declaration of Indepepndence

Which political philosopher's ideas are best represented in the Declaration of Independence?

• Thomas Hobbes

• Ethan Allen

• John Locke

• James Madison

Why did the colonists living under British rule protest British tax policies?

• The colonists claimed that the tax policies violated their political rights.

• The colonists claimed that the monetary policies prohibited them from developing industries.

• The colonists claimed that the commercial policies hindered westward expansion of the colonies.

• The colonists claimed that the regulatory policies caused widespread criminial activity in the colonies.

In the Mayflower Compact, Plymouth settlers pledged to unite into "a civil body politic" and agreed to make and abide by laws that "insured the general Good of the Colony."

Which founding document did this set a precedent for?

• Declaration of Independence

• U.S. Constitution

• Magna Carta

• Bill of Rights

Which person is considered to be the principle author of the U.S. Constitution?

• Thomas Jefferson

• Richard Henry Lee

• Benjamin Franklin

• James Madison

Government by the people and the spearation of powers are the main principles of which founding document?

• Bill of Rights

• U.S. Constitution

• Mayflower Compact

• Northwest Ordinance

Use the excerpt below, from the Thirteenth Amendment, to answer the question that follows.

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Which of the following contains a clause that may have served as an inspiration for the above language?

• Declaration of Independence

• Articles of Confederation

• Northwest Ordinance

• Federalist Papers

The Mayflower Compact includes a pledge to ensure that all citizens look out for the general good of the colony. Based on this what impact has the Mayflower Compact had on modern understanding of the purpose of government in the United States?

• The government should prtect the property of influential citizens.

• The government should provide equal protection unde the law.

• The government should advance the goals of the elite.

• The government should establish religious unity.

At the Constitutional Convention, there was a major debate between large states and small states about representation in the new Congress. This debate was resolved by the Great Compromise.

What was the result of this compromise?

• The number of citizens in a state would determine how many seats that state had in Congress, but slaves and other noncitizens would not be counted for this purpose.

• Congress would have two houses, one in which state representation was based on population and one in which all states had equal representation.

• The number of seats each state would have in both houses of Congres would be based on the state's population.

• Congress would be made up of two houses in which all states had an equal number of representatives in each house.