Understanding Civics

A limited government depends on

• consent of the people

• power of the king

• size of the country

• number of voters

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• Thomas Jefferson

• James Madison

• George Washington

• Edmund Randolph

What document did each state write after gaining independence from Britain?

• a declaration

• a constitution

• a will

• a compromise

What freedom did most state governments protect under law?

• freedom of speech

• freedom of assembly

• right to a trial by jury

• all of the above

Religious freedom means that you

• believe in a god

• can build churches anywhere.

• have the right to believe as you wish.

• don’t have to pay to go to church.

What did the Second Continental Congress do?

• write the Constitution and elect the president

• convince Britain to lower taxes and pull out troops

• nominate convention delegates and choose a meeting place

• run the war and write the Articles of Confederation

The Articles of Confederation

• allowed people to elect their representatives to the Congress

• made the president of the Congress too strong

• gave the central government too little power to be effective

• failed to provide sufficient protections for states' rights

In 1787, what rights did the Congress guarantee to settlers of the Northwest Territory?

• the same rights as people in the thirteen states

• the right to settle all land west of the Mississippi River

• the right to own and trade in enslaved people

• the same rights as Native Americans on reservations

What was the stated purpose, according to the Congress, of the Grand Convention of the States in 1787?

• to elect a president

• to recommend changes to the Articles of Confederation

• to write a new constitution

• to petition the states for money to pay foreign debts

Why didn't Patrick Henry attend the Grand Convention of the States in 1787?

• He didn’t want to strengthen the central government

• He didn’t have time to attend conventions

• He was serving as ambassador to England at the time

• He wasn’t elected as a delegate to the convention