Review for QB 2 2024 part 1

What is the purpose of the Preamble to the Constitution?

• to identify the goals of the national government

• to explain the colonists’ reasons for separating from England

• to help the national government raise more revenue

• to overcome the threat posed by Shays' Rebellion

Which group is meant by the phrase “We the People” in the Preamble of the Constitution?

• all citizens with property, who have an interest in law and order

• the authors of the Constitution, who possess the greatest wisdom

• all citizens, who are the source of all government power in a republic

• the wealthiest citizens, who have the most to gain from a stable government

Why did the Anti-Federalists oppose ratification of the Constitution?

• They feared income taxes would be too high.

• The new government might threaten individual rights.

• The nation needed a monarch to provide greater stability.

• The new government would not be strong enough to overcome its challenges.

The passage below is from Federalist No. 15, written by Alexander Hamilton in 1787.

We have reached almost the last state of national humiliation. . . [W]e owe debts to foreigners . . .[We have] valuable territories and important posts in the possession of a foreign power . . . [We are unable to] repel aggression . . . We have neither troops, nor treasury, nor government.

Based on this passage, why did Hamilton believe the Constitution should be ratified?

• The United States needed a large army to expand into nearby territories.

• The existing government of the United States was too weak to defend the country.

• The United States government needed a treasury to buy additional territory from its neighbors.

• The United States needed a stronger government to promote the interests of wealthy Americans.

Why did the Anti-Federalists urge the addition of a bill of rights to the Constitution?

• to abolish slavery

• to protect individual liberties

• to lower the costs of government

• to check the power of state governments

The chart below lists important developments occurring after the American Revolution.

• States taxed each other's goods.

• Merchants complained it was difficult to do business in other states.

• Indebted farmers in Massachusetts demanded lower taxes and cheap paper money.   

• Landowners feared the spread of rebellion.

Which step was taken in response to these events?

• The Continental Congress passed the Articles of Confederations

• States sent representatives to Philadelphia, where they wrote the U.S. Constitution.

• Congress proposed a bill of rights in the form of ten amendments to the Constitution.

• The Congress of the Confederation appointed General George Washington as dictator.

The passage below comes from The Federalist Papers, Number 4, by John Jay.

Leave America divided into thirteen or, if you please, into three or four independent governments. [W]hat armies could they raise and pay[?] [W]hat fleets could they ever hope to have? If one was attacked, would the others fly to its [assistance], and spend their blood and money in its defense?

How did the new Constitution resolve the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation identified by Jay in this passage?

• It placed the President in charge of states’ armies.

• It gave the Congress the power to raise its own army.

• It forced the states to contribute their troops to the national army.

• It increased the powers of the states to raise their own armies.

Which weakness of the Articles of Confederation was corrected by the authors of the Constitution?

• no state governments

• no national court system

• no elected representatives

• no relations with foreign nations

What was one of the main reasons the Federalists supported the ratification of the Constitution?

• To establish a monarchy in the United States

• To create a stronger central government

• To eliminate state governments

• To reduce the power of the national government

Which principle of the Constitution addresses the concern of one branch of government becoming too powerful?

• Judicial review

• Popular sovereignty

• Checks and balances

• Federalism