Unit 2 Test

Which of the following was a primary goal of the Constitutional Convention 1787?

• To create an acceptable framework of government.

• To determine if women should be granted the right to vote.

• To elect a president and vice president to govern the nation.

• To offer the British government a peace treaty.

The phrase from the Declaration of Independence which states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed” refers to the principle of what?

• Checks and Balances.
• Judicial Review.
• Popular Sovereignty.
• Separation of Powers.

Under the Articles of Confederation, America had which type of legislative body?

• Unicameral.
• Bicameral.

What effect did Daniel Shay’s Rebellion, 1787, have on the new nation?

• It scared Southerners into passing tighter restrictions for slaves
• It created a demand for a stronger central government.
• It gave the militia a chance to practice new training maneuvers
• It proved that the government could control the people.

The quotation above, from the Preamble to the United States Constitution, illustrates what about the role of people in the new government?

• They have the right to a trial by jury.
• They are guaranteed an adequate standard of living.
• They are the true source of political power.
• They have the right to assemble.

For when any number of men
have, by the consent of every
individual, made a community,
they have thereby made that
community one body, with a
power to act as one body, which
is only by the will and
determination of the majority.
John Locke, Second Treatise on
Government 1690

In the excerpt above,Locke expressed the belief that governments should what?

• Be divided into separate branches
• Ensure that all people have the same legal rights
• Provide for the defense of the nation
• Receive their authority to rule from the people

Which group had the most influence on the ideas stated in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution?

• Political leaders of Spain and Portugal
• Religious leaders of the Medieval Period
• Writers of the Renaissance
• Philosophers of the Enlightenment

Under the Articles of Confederation, why was the U.S.Congress unable to pay off the national debt?

• It did not have the power to tax
• States thought the debt was not counted correctly.
• Britain prevented U.S. Congress from paying it.
• The South thought Congress was unconstitutional

In his book, The Spirit of Laws (1748), French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu wrote of a “tripartite system” of government in which the powers of government are separated and assigned to different bodies. How are Montesquieu’s ideas applied in the U.S. Constitution?

• three levels of government (local, state, and federal)
• three levels of the judiciary (district, appellate, and supreme courts)
• three civil protections (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)
• three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial)

Reflecting the natural rights philosophy of the Enlightenment, the Declaration of Independence stated that governments derive their just powers from

• the consent of the governed
• tradition
• their elected leaders
• the Constitution