Civics Unit 3- Constitution and Bill of Rights

Why didn't the leaders of the United States opt to simply revise or improve the Articles of Confederation in 1787?

• The Articles of Confederation had always been envisioned as a temporary document, not a long-term plan for the country's government.

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    The citizens of every state signed petitions demanding that their leaders scrap the Articles of Confederation and create a new plan of government.

• Great Britain had recognized the weakness of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and was planning to attack and conquer the country.

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    They accepted that the country needed a stronger central government than the one created by the Articles of Confederation could provide.

Which compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention established that the population of enslaved people in a state would be only partially represented in that state's official population for representation and taxation purposes?

• Three-Fifths Compromise

• the Two-for-One Compromise

• the One-Half Compromise

• the Two-Thirds Compromise

Which description of the Great Compromise, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, was reached at the Constitutional Convention in 1787?

• The president and vice president would be chosen by a group of delegates chosen by votes in each state.

• Every citizen would be allowed to vote in state elections, but only those citizens who owned property would be given the right to vote in national elections.

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    Seventy-five percent of the state legislatures would have to vote for an amendment to the Constitution before it could be ratified.

• Congress would be composed of two houses: one in which representation was based on a state's size, and one in which every state was represented equally, regardless of size.

What did the Federalists want after the Constitution was written in 1787?

• • the country to continue under the Articles of Confederation

• • the Constitution to be ratified as written

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    an amendment to the Constitution that outlawed slavery

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    an amendment to the Constitution that outlawed slavery

What did the Antifederalists want after the Constitution was written in 1787?

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    state governments to have the power to disband the federal government with a simple majority vote

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    the Constitution to do more to protect individual freedoms and limit the power of the national government

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    a constitutional guarantee that the federal government would not seek to abolish slavery for at least 20 years

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    the judicial branch of the federal government to have the power to appoint or remove other federal officials from their posts

Which statements about how Federalists and Anti-Federalists felt about the Constitution is NOT true?

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    The Federalists at first argued that a bill of rights was not needed in the Constitution.

• The Anti-Federalists created a second draft of the Constitution, this time adding a bill of rights, and ratified their version.

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    The Anti-Federalists demanded that the Constitution include a bill of rights to guarantee personal freedoms.

• The Federalists finally relented and promised to add a bill of rights to the Constitution, which cleared the way for its ratification.

What is the purpose of the preamble to the Constitution?

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• to guarantee the individual freedoms of American citizens, including the freedom of speech and the right to bear arms

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    to establish that the government derives its power from the people and to introduce the six purposes of government in serving the people

• to enumerate the powers given to the federal government and to establish that other powers are reserved for state governments

• to spell out the powers granted to each branch of the federal government and to establish a system of checks and balances between them

What do Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution establish?

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    the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government

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    the three types of governments that individual states can create

• the process for introducing and passing amendments to the Constitution

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    the rules about who can serve as president and the line of succession for the presidency

Which description of the constitutional amendment process is most accurate?

• The process, which is rather unusual, allows special-interest groups and individual members of the public to propose amendments and lobby Congress to vote to send it to the president, who will then ratify it or reject it with a veto.

• The process, which is deceptively simple, requires that an amendment be proposed in the Senate, passed by a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, and by simple majority of the states.

• The process, which is highly secretive, requires the president to propose an amendment to Congress, after which House and Senate members debate its merits in private and then vote on it in groups known as conclaves.

• The process, which is intentionally difficult, requires that an amendment be proposed and approved by two-thirds of Congress or two-thirds of state legislatures and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states.,

Why was the necessary and proper clause included in the Constitution?

• to restrict Congress from passing laws pertaining to issues that would be better handled by state governments

• to establish the process for judicial review and ensure that the Supreme Court only hears cases that are necessary and proper

• to give implied powers to Congress so the federal government could handle issues and problems that the writers of the Constitution could not foresee

• to grant the president the power to authorize military force in all cases that he or she deems necessary and proper