US History Constitution Test – Flashcards

1777: Were documents that served as the principles of the federal government, created after the Revolution. The central government heavily relied on the states for money and power

1786: A group of farmers revolted against the state government because they thought the taxes and how debt was dealt with was wrong

1787: Divided new land into 6 square miles per township, and reserved 1 square mile for schools.

A territory of the US including all the land west of Pennsylvania and northwest of the Ohio River. This land was gained by the US in the treaty of paris.

1787: The convention that met to decide how to form new principles for the federal government.

The plan to have two houses in congress and have both to have representatives based on population

The plan to have a one house congress with two representatives each.

The plan to have two houses in congress, the lower with representation based on population and the upper with two representatives for each state.

The southern states wanted slaves to count in the population for representation in the federal government, and the north did not. To prevent the southern states from leaving the union they agreed that ⅗ of the slave population would count in the population, but the state would have to pay taxes for the higher population they would have.

The United State's declaration of independence says that the natural rights of man are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Given at birth.

The government only exists to serve the will of the people. The people can choose to give or not to give power to the government.

A check and balance on congress. The president of the United States can say no to any bill that has less than ⅔ congress agreement. This prevents congress from becoming too powerful.

They were the people who believed that the constitution should be ratified and that a strong federal government was essential in protecting all of its citizens, even the minorities.

They were the people who were opposed to the constitution, they thought the constitution gave too much power to the central government and gave the states little power. They wanted to improve the articles of confederation, but believed that a strong central government could easily become corrupt and tyrannical.

The First 10 amendments to the constitution guarantee rights to the citizens. These rights were the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia, no quartering of soldiers, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, rights of accused persons, e.g., right to a speedy and public trial, right of trial by jury in civil cases, freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments, other rights of the people, and powers not in constitution are reserved to the states.

The right of the supreme court to review any law or bill to say if that bill or law is constitutional or not. This is a check and balance on the legislative and executive branches.

A system of government in which all the people of a state are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament or similar assembly

The power for congress to pass laws to insure that the federal government has its powers given to it by the constitution.

The federal government gets its power from the people and not from a divine source. This is a check and balance on the whole government, saying that without the support of the population the government cannot exist.

The government is to be separated into 3 branches which can all check and balance each other. The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive passes the laws and enforces them, and the judicial branch review the laws and validates if the laws are constitutional or not.

Each branch of government has the power to limit the power of another branch. The judicial branch can say that a law is unconstitutional and make it not a law. The legislative branch can remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch.

The government is bound by the constitution.

There is a division of power between state and federal government. The powers not granted to the federal government in the constitution are reserved for the state government.

The people elect officials to represent them in the government.

The people have the right to petition the government.

Serve 6 year terms. Voted in by popular election. Have to be at least 30 years old, be citizen of USA for 9 years, and be a resident of the state they are elected for

Serve 2 year terms. Voted in by a popular election. Have to be at least 25 years old, be citizen of USA for 7 years, and be a resident of the state they are elected for

Propose laws, veto laws with less than 2/3 congress approval, grant pardons, appoint judges and high ranking officials, negotiate foreign treaties, and serve as commander in chief of the army