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The Basics of Government: Intro. to the Constitution

Total questions: 12

Worksheet time: 6mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

When did the U.S. officially become its own country?

a)

Feb. 7th, 1783

b)

July 4th, 1776

c)

Sept. 14th, 1690

d)

Oct. 24th, 1804

2.

What would life probably be like in a "state of nature" where there's no government?

a)

just like it is today, no different

b)

way better - safer, people would be happier, etc.

c)

crazy - it would probably be chaotic and dangerous

3.

What did the Founding Fathers think the purpose of government was?

a)

To protect our rights (life, liberty & property)

b)

To tell us what to do

c)

To give us jobs and make us pay taxes

d)

To make sure other countries took us seriously as a new country

4.

What were the Founding Fathers afraid of when creating the new government?

a)

it not being powerful enough to be taken seriously

b)

it being too powerful, and taking people's rights away

c)

they weren't afraid of anything, they were the Founding Fathers!

5.

What type of government did the Founders want to create?

a)

A direct democracy

b)

A monarchy

c)

A republic

6.

Who did they model their government off of, from history?

a)

the Egyptians

b)

the Romans

c)

the Babylonians

d)

the Aztecs

7.

What was the name of the first government that the United States had?

a)

The Constitution of the United States

b)

The Articles of Confederation

c)

The American Government

d)

The Revolutionary Government

8.

How many states had to agree in order to pass national laws under the first government?

a)

5/13

b)

7/13

c)

9/13

d)

30/50

9.

Why did the Articles of Confederation not stick around as our system of government?

a)

people got bored with it and wanted to try something new

b)

the national government was too powerful again, just like Britain's was, and people were fed up

c)

the rich people wanted to take it over and make it corrupt, so they did

d)

the national government didn't have enough power...it was too weak, and was at risk of falling apart - it couldn't even afford an army

10.

What was it called when Congress met and decided to change the government from the Articles of Confederation, to what we have now?

a)

The Treaty of Paris

b)

The Declaration of Indepedence

c)

The Constitutional Convention

d)

Woodstock

11.

The Constitution, overall...

a)

lists all the laws in our country

b)

explains how our national government works

c)

isn't important

12.

Compromise means...

a)

to not agree to something unless you get everything you want

b)

to give something up in order to get something in return (meet in the middle)

c)

a meeting

d)

a way to organize something / give guidelines on things