Name: ______
Period: ______
Constitution Test #1
_____1. Voting Rights
_____2. Form of government in which the people
hold the power
_____3. Dividing power between branches of
government to ensure no one branch or
person becomes too powerful
_____4. Formal approval
_____5. Movement in Europe that emphasized the
importance of science and reason to solve
problems. Many ideas of this movement
influenced the political thought of our
Founding Fathers.
_____6. Taxes on imports and exports
_____7. Trade between the states
_____8. Sharp drop in economic activity
_____9. People who owe money
_____10. A set of basic principles that determine
the powers of a government
_____11. The ______was a “loose confederation of states” that governed the states in the years immediately following the Revolutionary War.
A. ConstitutionB. Articles of ConfederationC. Rule BookD. Law
_____12. Which of the following was a power given to the Confederation Congress under the Articles of Confederation?
A. Coin MoneyB .Draft TroopsC. Declare WarD. Tax income
_____13. Which of the following was a weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
- Could not force states to provide money and troops for defense
- Could not regulate interstate trade
- Required unanimous consent for change
- All of the above are weaknesses of the Articles
_____14. Which of the following contributed to Shays’ Rebellion?
- Massachusetts refused to print paper money.
- Massachusetts chose to pay of war debts by using a property tax.
- The federal government paid soldiers with land instead of money after the Revolutionary War
- All of the above
_____15. Section 16 of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 is provided for use for _____.
A. ChurchB. GamblingC. SportsD. Schools
_____16. The most important lasting effect of the Northwest Ordinance is that it ______.
- Gave the land to Native Americans
- Establishes how a territory becomes a state
- Erased all debt from the Revolution
- Declared all the land would be a nature preserve
_____17. How many states were formed out of the Northwest Territory?
A. 1B. 3C. 5D. 7
_____18. The Connecticut Plan, or Great Compromise, resolved the conflict of ______.
A. TaxesB. SlaveryC. Congressional representationD. Education
_____19. The 3/5 Compromise stated that slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for purposes of taxation and ______.
A. EducationB. CensusC. VotingD. Representation
_____20. The president vetoes a bill from Congress. This is an example of _____.
- An executive check on the legislative branch
- A legislative check on the executive branch
- An executive check on the judicial branch
- A judicial check on the legislative branch
_____21. ______is a system to ensure that one branch does not become too powerful.
A. VotingB. VetoC. Checks and balancesD. Judicial Review
_____22. The people who supported ratification of the Constitution were called ______.
A. CrazyB. FederalistsC. Anti-FederalistsD. Constitutionalists
_____23. The Anti-Federalists refused to support the constitution until a ______was added.
A. Bill of RightsB. Debate ClauseC. Slavery ClauseD. New Jersey Plan
_____24. Which branch of government is the most powerful?
- Executive
- Judicial
- Legislative
- No branch is more powerful thanks to a system of checks and balances
_____25. The Northwest Ordinance ______slavery in the Northwest Territory.
A. encouragedB. bannedC. rewardedD. said nothing about
_____26. Which of the following pairs of people were outspoken Anti-Federalists?
- John Jay and Patrick Henry
- Patrick Henry and George Washington
- James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
- Sam Adams and Patrick Henry
_____27. Which of the following pairs of people were outspoken Federalists?
A.John Jay and Patrick Henry
- Patrick Henry and George Washington
- James Madison and Alexander Hamilton
D. Sam Adams and Patrick Henry
_____28. What is another name for the “unalienable rights” Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration of Independence?
A. Civil RightsB. Natural RightsC. Political RightsD. Right of Way
_____29. The assertion of that principle, at that time, was the word, "fitly spoken" which has proved an "apple of gold" to us.
According to Lincoln, the “apple of gold” to America is the ______.
UnionB. ConstitutionC. DeclarationD. Principle of liberty to all
_____30. There was a compromise during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia about the International Slave Trade. The Southern delegates agreed to allow bills to become law with a simple majority of both houses of Congress in exchange for what?
- No laws forbidding the international slave trade for 20 years.
- The legalization of slavery in all states.
- The legalization of slavery in the Northwest Territory
- The slave trade to be legal forever
31. Name two Enlightenment thinkers and one contribution each made that is still incorporated in our government today.
32. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States national government was weaker than each of the state governments.
In your Answer Document, identify one weakness of the national government and explain why this weakness was a problem for the nation.
33. The Framers began writing the Constitution of the United States in May 1787, but it was not ratified by all thirteen states until May 1790. One of the issues debated during
the Constitutional Convention was the congressional representation of enslaved Africans.
In your Answer Document, explain the positions of both Northern delegates and Southern delegates on the issue of congressional representation of enslaved Africans.
34. Another issue debated during the Constitutional Convention was how states would have representation in Congress. Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented a plan, and William Patterson of New Jersey submitted a counter proposal. Explain the major components of each of those plans, and then explain how the “Great Compromise” solved the issue.
Bonus: (2 pts. Each)
- What is another name for the “Great Compromise?”
- Which plan for representation is called the “large state plan?”
- What did Daniel Shays do for a living before he fought in the Revolutionary War?
- What was the first state formed from the Northwest Territory?
- What British Document signed by King John in 1215 was the first to limit the power of the monarchy?