The Purpose & History of U.S. Government: Main Ideas

According to John Locke, which of the following would be considered a natural right?

• creating a business

• owning property

• getting an education

• voting in an election

Thomas Hobbes argued the following:

That people give up some of their freedom by agreeing to obey a ruler. In exchange for this obedience, the ruler agrees to bring peace and order to society.

Which concept does this statement portray?

• natural rights

• religious freedoms

• social contract

• popular sovereignty

Which French Enlightenment thinker wrote about the separation of powers into three branches—legislative, judicial, and executive—that heavily influenced the structure of the U.S. government as outlined in the Constitution?

• John Locke

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Baron De Montesquieu

• Thomas Hobbes

What was the reason behind the concept of separate but equal branches of government?

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  to give each social class in society its own branch of government to control

•  

  to increase the power of the president by giving him three government branches for support

•  

  to establish government power over citizens by having multiple branches made up of different court systems

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  to create a balance of power in government where no one branch could abuse the system or citizens

In 1215, King John gave his approval for the Magna Carta, which defined the rights and duties of English nobles. How did the Magna Carta help create a limited monarchy in England?

• It reduced the monarch’s ability to demand taxes from the nobles.

• It provided a framework for self-government, which required a representative of the nobles’ choosing to create laws.

• It required that elections be held without the monarch’s interference.

A student is making a list of individual rights that were reaffirmed by the English Bill of Rights. Which item does NOT belong on the list?

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  the right of freedom of the press

•  

  the right to own property

•  

  the right to life

•  

  the right to liberty

What was the purpose of habeas corpus under the English Bill of Rights?

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  It protected against the taxation of the people.

•  

  It protected people accused of a crime from unlawful imprisonment.

•  

  It protected people in the freedom to practice their own religion.

•  

  It protected the right to own property.

The text of the Preamble to the Constitution states:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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. —Preamble to the Constitution, 1787

How did the Preamble fulfill the Enlightenment thinkers’ ideals that power and authority in government come from the consent of the governed and not from the states, Congress, or a monarch?

• by including the phrase “establish Justice”

• by starting the text of the Preamble with the phrase “We the people”

• by including the phrase “promote the general Welfare”

• by ending the text of the Preamble with the phrase “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”

This is the Preamble to the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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. —Preamble to the Constitution, 1787

Which phrase in the Preamble provides evidence that the Constitution was written to establish one unified nation instead of a loose confederation of separate states?

• in Order to form a more perfect Union

• establish Justice

• insure domestic Tranquility

• secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity

The Preamble to the Constitution outlined several goals for the new nation. What is meant by the goal “provide for the common defense”?

• The framers hoped to guarantee freedom for Americans, both at present and in the future.

• The framers wanted the government to protect the nation against foreign enemies.

• The framers hoped the government would ensure the well-being of its citizens.

• The framers wanted the government to ensure peace and order.