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WorksheetsConstitutional Conversations and Civil Dialogue
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 10mins
What is the U.S. Constitution?
The supreme law of the land in America
A document declaring independence from Great Britain
A source of much debate and discussion among Americans
Both A and C
The Constitution is not a particularly long document (the Preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments). The Founding generation wrote it that way so
Only wealthy elites could own a copy
Everyone, lawyer and nonlawyer alike, could read it and understand it
The new laws would be confusing and difficult to understand
To save money on the ink needed to print it
The Constitution expresses one of its core principles, popular sovereignty, in its Preamble, beginning with these words:
We the People
Four score and seven years ago
We hold these truths to be self-evident
Of the people, by the people, for the people
The framers set out the basic structure of government-in other words, its three different branches in Articles I through III. In order, match the three different branches (1. Legislative, 2. Executive, 3. Judicial) with its constitutional responsibility.
1. Enforcing the laws, 2. Interpreting the laws, 3. Making the laws
1. Interpreting the laws, 2. Making the laws, 3. Enforcing the laws
1. Making the laws, 2. Enforcing the laws, 3. Interpreting the laws
The framers really didn't want a separation of powers
Article V outlines a formal process that has allowed later generations to revise the Constitution without the need to resort to violence or revolution. This process is called
The Impeachment Process
The Amendment Process
The Midterm Elections
Judicial Review
Some of our most cherished liberties, such as free speech, free press, freedom of religion, and the right to a jury trial, were not listed in the original Constitution. Rather, they were added in 1791 with the adoption of the
Northwest Ordinance
Articles of Confederation
Continental Association
Bill of Rights
After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, wrote the Declaration of Independence's promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution, and banned racial discrimination in voting. This period, which some historians call America's "Second Founding" is also known as
Reconstruction
Antebellum
The Progressive Era
The New Deal
The key to thinking like a constitutional lawyer is to separate your political views (what should be done) from your constitutional views (what can be done). Which of these would be an example of a constitutional question?
Should the government raise your taxes?
Does the federal government have the power to pass a law to raise your taxes?
Should the government lower your taxes?
Should wealthy corporations pay more in taxes?
Phillip Bobbitt's landmark book Constitutional Fate identifies seven different forms of argument used by constitutional lawyers. When having a civil dialogue, it is important to be aware of these different arguments because
You can criticize someone who uses a different interpretive method than you
It is easier to tell people that they are wrong
Even judges and constitutional lawyers don't always agree on the Constitution's meaning
You can prove that you are smarter than everyone else
Someone who is using a Textual Interpretation would most likely try to
Use the Constitution's text to understand the best reading of the Constitution's text at the time the provision was added to the Constitution
Use only modern resources
Use any text they can find, even if it has nothing to do with the Constitution
Use sources that were first published on the internet
If someone is interpreting a constitutional provision by examining records from the 1787 Convention, discussions in state ratifying conventions, and late 18th-century newspapers and pamphlets, they are most likely using which method of interpretation?
Doctrine
Prudence
History
Moral
When having a constitutional conversation with someone, you should try to
Make sure that you are asking constitutional, not political questions
Always ask only "yes or no" questions
Try to incorporate scholarly work into your answers
Both A and C
Which of these should you do when having a constitutional conversation?
Use vague ideas that are only loosely connected to the question.
Talk about scholarly ideas without referring to the author or work by name.
Remember to explain what the information you are citing means.
Forget to connect your evidence to the bigger picture and/or essential question.
Which of the following do you think is true about the nature of discussions between justices of the Supreme Court?
The justices occasionally shout at each other.
The justices are rude to each other.
Their conversations are civil, polite, and professional, even if they strongly disagree.
Justices will try to put each other down.
Justice Stephen Breyer talked about how the Supreme Court settles arguments and how their method can work for you, too. What was Justice Breyer's advice?
Stay calm and listen to others.
It's okay to get angry if it intimidates your opponent.
Don't listen to what others are saying if you know you are right.
Focus only on what you are saying, not on what others are saying.
A tip for having a conversation with a group of people: "Don't speak twice until everyone has spoken once." This is a great rule for
Justices of the Supreme Court only
Whatever group you're involved in
Members of Congress only
Members of your school's debate team only
The only way that the government can be responsive to the will of "We the People" is if the people are free to express
Perspectives that everyone can agree with
Perspectives that are popular
Only perspectives of the political party in power
All perspectives, even those that people might disagree with
In the Supreme Court case of Whitney v. California, the importance of civil dialogue was emphasized by this justice.
John Marshall
Louis Brandeis
Earl Warren
Thurgood Marshall
According to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was the Constitution made for?
Kings and tyrants
People who can always agree on everything
People with fundamentally differing views
Only those who had served in the military
The people who should be having conversations about our Constitution are
Supreme Court justices
Members of national, state, and local governments
Ordinary citizens regardless of profession or background
All of the above
