| Question | Answer |
| bicameral | a legislature consisting of two parts or houses |
| confederation | a group of individuals or state governments - individual states that meet for a common purpose |
| executive branch | the branch of government that carries out the laws (President, VP and President's Cabinet) Article II in the Constitution |
| anti-federalist | those who opposed ratification of the Constitution |
| federalist | supporters of the constitution |
| constitution | a detailed, written plan for government |
| amendment | any change in the constitution |
| expressed powers | powers that congress has that are specifically listed in the Consitiution |
| legislative branch | the branch of government that makes the laws, they can declare law and coin money (Congress) Article I in the Constitution |
| judicial branch | the branch of government that interprets the laws, Supreme Court, Article III |
| preamble | the opening section of the Constitution that states the 6 goals of American government |
| rule of law | principle that the law applies to everyone, no one is above the law |
| separation of powers | The split of authority among the legislative, executive and judicial branches |
| checks and balances | a system in which each branch of govermnet is able to check, or restrain, the power of the other branches |
| legislature | a group of people that make the laws, before the 17th Amendment legislators chose the Senators for Congress |
| ratify | to vote approval of |
| popular sovereignty | the notion that power lies with the people |
| reserved powers | powers that the Constitiution does not give to the national government that are kept for the state |
| concurrent powers | powers shared by the state and federal government |
| Who was the father of the Constitution? | James Madison |
| What is a written plan for government called? | constitution |
| Which philosopher did the colonist model their constitutions after? | Baron de Montesquieu - Separation of powers |
| When was the Articles of Confederation written? | 1777 |
| What is a Confederation? | A loose association of states |
| Under the Articles of Confederation what did congress have the power to do? | Control the army, deal with foreign countries, allow new states into the union and each state got one vote |
| What were the problems with the Articles of Confederation? | A law could not be passed unless 9 out of 13 states agreed, to amend the AOC all 13 states must agree, could not collect taxes, could not regulate trade, could not enforce laws, no single leader and no national court system |
| Why did Daniel Shay rebel? | After the Revolutionary war he woed taxes that he could not pay so the courts wanted to take his farm away from him. |
| When was the Constitution signed? | September 17, 1787 |
| What was the Virginia Plan? | There would be a president, court and congress, 2 houses based on population. |
| What was the New Jersey Plan? | unicameral with one vote from each state, Congress could set taxes and regulate trade. |
| What was the Great Compromise? | Bicameral legilation, one house would have two representatives the other would be based on population |
| What was the Three-fifth's Compromise? | Because there were 550,000 slaves in the south how would we count population? For every five slaves they would count as 3 people for population and tax purposes. |
| Who were the federalist? | People that supported the constitution? |
| Who were the people who opposed the constitution? | Anti-Federalist |
| What compromise did the delegates make so the Anti-federalist would support the constitution? | They added a bill of rights. |
| What are the three parts of the Constitution? | Preamble, Articles and Amendments |
| What are the six goals of the constituiton? | To create a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity |
| What document was in place that led to Daniel Shays rebellion? | The Articles of Confederation- Congress lacked the power to tax and could not pay the soldiers, the soldier then lost their homes and farms because the soldiers could not pay for their homes. |
| Which part of the Preamble would address a governor or President sending in the National Guard to protect people during integration? | ensure domestic tranquility |
| Which part of the Preamble would address ObamaCare? | Government promotes the general welfare |
| Which part of the Preamble would address the military? | Providing for the common defense. |
| Which part of the preamble addresses our court system? | establishing justice |
| In Parliament, how is he Prime Minister elected? | The people elect the legislators and the legislators elect the Prime Minister. |
| How is a Prime Ministers election different than a Presidential election? | Legislators pick the Prime Minister while the people elect the President. |
| Can a state law contradict the US Constitution? | No, the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land (Supremacy Clause) |
| Who can amend the constitution? | 2/3s Congress or the Legislative Branch and 3/4s of the state legislators |
| Is the process to amend the Constitution easy? | No, we only have 27 amendments while thousands have been proposed |
| Where did we get the idea to add Separation of Powers into the Constitutuion? | Baron de Montesquieu |
| What are the Articles of Confederation? | America's first plan for government |
| How many states had to agree in order to pass a law under the Articles of Confederation? | 9 out of 13 |
| How many states had to agree in order to amend the Articles of Confederation? | 13 out of 13 |
| What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? | Congress lacked power and Money
Rules were too rigid
No Central Leader |
| What does LEJRASR stand for? | Article I Legislative Branch
Article II Executive Branch
Article III Judicial Branch
Article IV Relationships of States
Article V Amendments
Article VI Supremacy of the Constitution
Article VII Ratification of the Constitution |
| Why do we have checks and balances? | So that no branch gets too strong |
| How many amendments are in the Constitution? | 27 |
| How many amendments are in the Bill of Rights | 10 |
| What is the Supremacy Clause? | Article VI of the US Constitution states that the Constitution is the Supreme law of the land. |
| The Major Principles in the US Constitution? | Rule of Law, Popular Sovereignty, Checks and Balances, Separation of Power, FEDERALISM |
| What does the phrase "We the People" mean? | The people have the power, the government exists to serve the people. |
| What does the term Concurrent Mean? | The federal government and state government share the power. |
