WorksheetsTopic 2
Total questions: 60
Worksheet time: 3600secs
Why did American colonists not support the king's taxation measures that were put into place after the French and Indian War in 1763?
They felt as if the taxes were unfair because colonists were not properly represented in Parliament.
They believed the king had no right to tax them because he lived on another continent.
They felt as if the taxes were too high.
They felt as if the French and Indian War was not their fault, and therefore they did not deserve to be taxed to pay for it.
Who makes up the Executive Branch?
Congress
President, Vice President, Cabinet, Executive Office of the President, independent agencies
Court systems
Who makes up the Legislative Branch?
Congress
President, Vice President, Cabinet, Executive Office of the President, independent agencies
Court systems
Who makes up the Judicial Branch?
Congress
President, Vice President, Cabinet, Executive Office of the President, independent agencies
Court systems
Many of the fundamental principles found in the United States Constitution were based on the:
concept of salutary neglect.
influence of British Loyalists.
rule of absolute monarchs in Europe.
writings of Enlightenment philosophers.
Which branch of government has the power to interpret laws, determine their meaning, and to settle disputes that arise within society?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Which branch of government has the power to make laws and frame public policies?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Which branch of government has the power to execute, enforce, and administer laws?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Who was the first elected president under the new Constitution?
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Franklin
George Washington
James Madison
The Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, were intended to:
promote independence from Great Britain.
persuade voters to keep the Articles of Confederation.
win support for ratification of the Constitution.
endorse candidates running for Congress.
To prevent tyranny, the authors of the Constitution drew on Montesquieu’s concept of:
Religious liberty
Universal suffrage
Separation of powers
Supremacy of the nobility
The Connecticut Compromise declared that Congress will be bicameral. What was the other main feature of the Connecticut Compromise?
In the Senate, the states would be represented equally. In the House, the states would be represented based on size of territory.
In the Senate, the states would be presented based on territory. In the House, the states would be represented equally.
In the Senate, the states would be represented equally. In the House, the states would be represented based on population.
In the Senate, the states would be represented based on population. In the House, the states would be represented based on the size of their economies.
In colonial America, the House of Burgesses, the Mayflower Compact, and town hall meetings were all developments that led to the:
regulation of trade with Native American Indians.
protection of the rights of women.
elimination of the power of the upper classes.
creation of representative government.
Document that limited the king’s power in several ways, such as demanding that he no longer imprison people but by judgment of his peers or the law, impose military rule, or require homeowners to shelter the king’s troops, tax people without Parliament’s consent, etc. It also declared that monarchs must obey the law.
Magna Carta
Petition of Right
English Bill of Rights
Albany Plan of Union
The desire for commercial ventures, economic freedom, and religious freedom can all be seen as reasons for:
The formation of the 13 colonies in America.
Americans wanting independence from Britain.
The demand for a stronger national government in America.
The demand for a Bill of Rights in the new constitution.
What circumstances provided the need for the Petition of Right?
King John's military campaigns and heavy taxation created the need for protection against the king.
After several years of revolt in England, William and Mary took over, and Parliament wanted to prevent abuse of their power.
The English Parliament's power grew over time, so when King Charles I asked Parliament for more money in taxes, Parliament refused until Charles promised to limit his powers.
Document that proposed congress of delegates from each of the colonies that would have the power to raise military and naval forces, make war and peace with Native Americans, regulate trade, tax, and collect customs duties.
Articles of Confederation
Albany Plan of Union
Constitution
Declaration of Independence
Which of the following accurately summarizes the different purposes of the First and the Second Continental Congresses?
The First Continental Congress was held to write new laws for the colonies, while the Second Continental Congress implemented those laws.
The First Continental Congress was held to write new state constitutions, while the Second Continental Congress ratified those constitutions.
The First Continental Congress was held to limit the authority of royal governors in the colonies, while the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Rights.
The First Continental Congress was held to determine a response to British policies, while the Second Continental Congress governed the nation during the Revolutionary War.
Compromise declaring that 3/5 of "all other persons" should be counted in the population when figuring representation in Congress.
3/5 Compromise
Great Compromise
Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise
Virginia Plan
What circumstances provided the need for the Magna Carta?
The English Parliament's power grew over time, so when King Charles I asked Parliament for more money in taxes, Parliament refused until Charles promised to limit his powers.
After several years of revolt in England, William and Mary took over, and Parliament wanted to prevent abuse of their power.
King John's military campaigns and heavy taxation created the need for protection against the king.
In 1787, Congress called on the states to send delegates to Philadelphia "...for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alternations and provisions therein as shall when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the states render the Articles adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the union." What does this request reveal about the general attitude in Congress toward the Articles of Confederation?
The general idea was that that A of C would be replaced by a new constitution.
The general idea was that the A of C could not be satisfactorily revised.
The general idea was that the A of C needed revision, but not complete replacement.
The general idea was that most states would not send delegates to the meeting and needed to be persuaded to do so.
Anti-Federalists insisted that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution in order to:
grant more power to Congress.
provide a method of settling disputes between states.
prevent states from denying individuals the right to vote.
protect individual rights from the power of the central government.
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
John Locke
George Washington
Article VII of the Constitution states that how many of the 13 colonies were needed to ratify the new Constitution for it to go into effect?
A majority of the colonies
9 of the colonies
All 13 colonies must be unanimous in their vote to ratify the new Constitution.
2/3 of the colonies
Plan proposed that included 3 branches of government, a bicameral legislature based on population, and a strong central government.
Albany Plan of Union
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Plan
The idea that government should serve the will of people. The people should have a voice in decided what government should and should not do.
Representative government
Popular sovereignty
Limited government
Ordered government
Plan proposed that included 3 branches of government and a bicameral legislature with one house based on population and one house based on equal representation.
Albany Plan of Union
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Plan
Under the Articles of Confederation, the years between 1781 and 1787 are often referred to as the “critical period” because the:
colonies were forced to pay high reparations to England.
states were fighting the French and Indian War.
southern states threatened to secede from the Union over the issue of slavery.
central government lacked the power to deal with major problems.
Group that favored ratification of the new constitution.
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
Group that opposed ratification of the new constitution.
Federalists
Anti-Federalists
What is the concept that each branch of government was given powers with which to check, or restrain the actions of, the other branches of government?
Popular sovereignty
Checks and balances
Separation of powers
Limited government
The concept that government is restricted in what it may do, and every individual has certain rights that government cannot take away.
Representative government
Popular sovereignty
Limited government
Ordered government
Which philosophies was the Declaration of Independence based on?
Natural rights
Social contract theory
Divine right of kings
Absolute rule
Document that proclaimed the existence of a new nation, the United States of America.
Albany Plan of Union
Constitution
Declaration of Independence
Articles of Confederation
Compromise forbidding Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any state and to act on the slave trade for at least 20 years.
Great Compromise
Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise
3/5 Compromise
Missouri Compromise
Why was the Declaration of Independence groundbreaking?
No colony had ever rebelled against its mother country before.
No political system had ever been founded had ever been founded on the notion that the people should rule instead of being ruled or that every person is created equal with certain rights, or the concept of consent of the governed.
No social contract had ever been broken before by a leader.
No document had ever been signed by so many supporters before.
Continental Congress that protested the colonial policies of King George III.
First Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
Which branch of government was the only branch of government that existed under the Articles of Confederation (the other 2 were handled in committees in Congress)?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
The need for an orderly regulation of their relationships with one another.
Representative government
Popular sovereignty
Limited government
Ordered government
What is the concept that powers granted to new governments were divided among legislative, executive, and judicial branches?
Popular sovereignty
Checks and balances
Separation of powers
Limited government
Did the Articles of Confederation call for a bicameral or unicameral legislature?
Bicameral
Unicameral
Which idea guided the development of the Articles of Confederation?
A strong central government would threaten the rights of the people.
All the people should be granted the right to vote.
Most power should rest with the judicial branch.
Only the central government would have the power to levy taxes.
Plan proposed that included 3 branches of government, a unicameral legislature in which all states were equally represented, and a weak central government.
Albany Plan of Union
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Plan
Continental Congress that wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, becoming the nation's first government.
First Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
Which issue did the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Great Compromise address at the Constitutional Convention?
the power to regulate interstate commerce
the number of justices on the Supreme Court
a system for electing the president
a method of determining state representation in Congress
What was the purpose of the Bill of Rights?
To explain what went wrong with the Articles of Confederation.
To provide the only rights written in the Constitution.
To provide rights not written in the Constitution, protecting the people from abuse of power.
To explain what was wrong with British colonial policy.
What circumstances provided the need for the English Bill of Rights?
The English Parliament's power grew over time, so when King Charles I asked Parliament for more money in taxes, Parliament refused until Charles promised to limit his powers.
After several years of revolt in England, William and Mary took over, and Parliament wanted to prevent abuse of their power.
King John's military campaigns and heavy taxation created the need for protection against the king.
In his pamphlet Common Sense, Thomas Paine urged American colonists to:
establish their own nation.
pay their colonial taxes.
obey the laws of Parliament.
form an alliance with France.
What kind of government did the Articles of Confederation promote?
A weak central government in which the states were in charge and the central government had little power.
A strong central government in which the central government had most of the power, and that central government delegated powers to the states.
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
July 4, 1754
July 4, 1763
July 4, 1765
July 4, 1776
A government that exists only with the consent of the governed.
Representative government
Popular sovereignty
Limited government
Ordered government
Document that was drawn up to prevent abuse of power. It prohibited a standing army in peacetime without Parliament’s consent, required all elections be free, taxes must be approved by Parliament, guaranteed fair trial and freedom from excessive bail and cruel punishment.
Magna Carta
Declaration of Independence
English Bill of Rights
Petition of Right
Document that included guarantees of fundamental rights such as trial by jury and due process of law and stated that the monarch's power was not absolute.
Magna Carta
Declaration of Independence
English Bill of Rights
Petition of Right
The nation's first constitution in which each state kept its sovereignty and independence.
Declaration of Independence
Articles of Confederation
Constitution
Albany Plan of Union
"No freeman shall be taken or imprison...or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land..." Which of the following principles does this quotation from the Magna Carta explain?
Guarantee of freedom of speech
Guarantee of due process
Prohibition against excessive fines and bail
Protection of the right of the state to organize a militia
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights..." Which of the following best paraphrases this statement?
People must show allegiance to their king and country throughout their lives.
People need to help others understand their basic rights as citizens.
People owe their allegiance first to God, then to the monarch.
People are born with certain rights that no one can take from them.
"...that the pretended power of suspending the laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of Parliament is illegal...that levying money for or to the use of the Crown...without grant of Parliament...is illegal...that it is the right of the subjects to petition the king...and that prosecutions of such petitioning are illegal..." Which of the following ideas is embodied in this excerpt from the English Bill of Rights?
The king needed the consent of Parliament to appoint advisors and ministers.
The king had the right to prosecute illegal petitions protesting royal laws.
The king had the power to suspend laws without Parliament's consent.
The king needed the consent of Parliament in order to tax people.
"John Adams, a rising lawyer in Boston, was also present at the First Continental Congress. Adams had defended the British officers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, despite his opposition to British colonial policies. By the time of the First Continental Congress, he had become a staunch supporter of independence as well as a brilliant political analyst." By making sure that British officers got a fair trial, Adams upheld which cornerstone of English law?
No quartering of soldiers in homes.
No martial law in times of peace.
The right to petition the Crown.
The right to due process.
Amos Singletary, a delegate to the Massachusetts constitutional ratifying convention, made this statement: "These lawyers, and men of learning, and monied men, that talk so finely and gloss over matters so smoothly, to make us poor illiterate people, swallow down the pill, expect to get into Congress themselves; they expect to...get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and they they will swallow up all us little folks." What was he expressing?
The Federalist position that the Constitution did not need a Bill of Rights because state constitutions contained those provisions.
The Federalist position that the Articles of Confederation created a government that was too weak.
The Anti-Federalist concern that states with large populations would dominate states with small populations.
The Anti-Federalist concern that the central government would become too powerful.
"…that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, …" — Declaration of Independence, 1776 This passage demonstrates that Thomas Jefferson was directly influenced by the:
ideas of John Locke
goals of the Albany Plan of Union
belief in the divine right of kings
traditional separation of church and state
