| Question |
Answer |
| What are the first 10 amendments called? |
Bill of Rights |
| ratify |
approve |
| amendment |
change or addition |
| compromise |
each side giving up a little to get a workable plan |
| checks and balances |
each branch making sure other branches weren't getting too much power |
| apportionment |
changing boundaries of voting districts so they all have about the same amount of people |
| Domestic Tranquility |
peace within our country |
| impeachment |
charging a govn't official of wrong doing |
| Pro Tempore |
termporary |
| Franking Privilege |
free mail for congressmen |
| Elastic Clause |
stretching the Constitution to allow for future laws |
| Popular Sovereignty |
people vote |
| suffrage |
to vote |
| Writ of Habeous Corpus |
written statement explaining to the court what a prisoner is being charged with |
| Bill of Attainder (illegal) |
to declare a person guilty of a crime with no trial |
| Ex Post Facto Law (illegal) |
a laew wich punishes you for an act that wasn't illegal when you did it |
| Appropriation Bill |
any bill dealing with money |
| concurrent powers |
powers shared by state and federal governments |
| veto |
to refuse to sign a bill into law |
| List the levels of laws in order from highest. |
US Constituion; US Supreme Court Decisions; State consitutions; State Court Decisions; City charters (Ordinances); City municipal)Court Decisions |
| How many votes in Congress can override the President's veto? |
2/3 |
| 1st Amendment |
Freedom of religion, press, speech, petition, assembly |
| 2nd Amendment |
Right to bear arms |
| 4th Amendment |
Search and Seizures |
| 5th Amendment |
Don't have to testify against yourself in a court of law |
| 6th Amendment |
Due Process - prompt trial, imparital jury, lawyer, witnesses |
| 12th Amendment |
Election of President and Vice President on separate ballots |
| 13th Amendment |
Freed Slaves |
| 14th Amendment |
Gave citizenship to former slaves (Civil Rights) |
| 15th Amendment |
Gave the vote to black males (former slaves) |
| 16th Amendment |
income tax |
| 18th Amendment |
prohibition |
| 19th Amendment |
women got vote |
| 21st Amendment |
repeal prohibition |
| 26th Amendment |
18 year olds got vote |
| Who takes over if the President dies? |
Vice President |
| Who is the head of the Senate? |
Vice President |
| Who is the head of the House of Representatives? |
Speaker of the House |
| Who is the head of the Supreme Court? |
Chief Justice |
| What is the Introduction to the Constitution called? |
Preamble |
| How long is one term of a Senator? |
6 years |
| How old must he be to run? |
30 |
| How long is one term of a Representative? |
2 years |
| How old must he be to run? |
25 |
| How long is a Supreme Court Justice in office? |
life |
| How old must a president be? |
35 |
| How long is one term for a President? |
4 years |
| How many amendments are there total? |
27 |
| Know the powers of government under the Aricles of Confederation and the Constitution. |
(blank) |
| Why did some states hesitate ratifying the Articles of Confederation? |
because some states claimed western lands and others didn't |
| What convinced states to finally sign the Articles of Confederation? |
All states agreed to give up their western claim |
| Explain the Land Ordinance of 1785. |
(blank) |
| Explain the Northwest Ordinance. |
(blank) |
| Where did the leaders meet to discuss the problem of the Articles of Confederation? |
Philadelphia |
| What did the meeting to discuss the problem of the Articles of Confederation accomplish? |
got rid of Articles of Confederation and wrote Constitution |
| What was the meeting to discuss the problems of the Articles of Confederation called? |
Constitutional Convention |
| Describe the New Jersey Plan. |
1 house; each state would send equal representatives |
| Describe the Virginia Plan. |
2 houses; upper house chosen by people directly; lower house chosen by people of upper house; number of representatives based on state's population |
| Explain the Great Compromise. |
Congress consists of Senate (2 Senators per state) and House of Representatives ( # of reps based on state's population) |
| Explain the 3/5 compromise. |
each slave in the South would count as 3/5 fo a person or every 5 slaves equalled 3 people |
| Explain the compromise the delegates ofthe Constitutional Convention made over trade. |
Trade would be regulated by Congress; they could regulate foreign trade, but slave trade couldn't be touched for 20 years |
| Explain the Electoral College and show how it works. |
# of Rep. + # of Senators = number of Electors |
| What were the first two political parties. |
Federalists; Anti-Federalists |
| What did Federalists believe in? |
for passage of Constitution |
| What did Anti-Federalists believe in? |
Against passage of Constitution until delegates agreed to add Bill of Rights |
| How many branches of government are there? |
3 |
| What are the branches of governement and what does each branch do? |
Executive - carries out (enforces) laws; Legislative - makes laws; Judicial - interprets laws |
| Name the powers of the Legislative Branch. |
pass laws, tax, borrow money, coin money, approve treaties, naturalization laws, bankruptcy laws,regulate trade between US and foreign countries, regulate trade between states (more) |
| Name the powers fo the Executive Branch. |
make treaties, appoint cabinet, appoint Sup. Ct. Justices; appoint ambassadors, request laws, veto, head of political party, appoint cabinet, pardon prisoners for Fed. crimes, Commander in Chief of Army and Navy, issue executive orders |
| How does a bill usually become a law? |
Both houses pass with Simple Majority and signed by President |