Chapter 3: The Constitution

Question 1

Advice and consent

Answer 1

the senate’s authority to approve or reject the president’s top appointments and negotiated treaties

Question 2

anti-federalists

Answer 2

individuals who opposed ratification of the constitution because they were deeply suspicious of the powers it gave to the national government and of the impact those powers would have on states’ authority and individual freedoms

Question 3

articles of confederation*

Answer 3

a document drafted in 1777 establishing a union of independent states that agreed to work together for mutual wellbeing

Question 4

bicameral legislature

Answer 4

legislature comprising two parts, called chambers

Question 5

bill of rights

Answer 5

the first 10 amendments to the constitution, which were ratified in 1791, constituting an enumeration of the individual liberties with which the government is forbidden to interfere

Question 6

checks and balances

Answer 6

a system in which each branch of government can monitor and limit the functions of the other branches

Question 7

confederation

Answer 7

a union of independent states in which each state retains its sovereignty, that is, its the ultimate power to govern, and agrees to work collaboratively on matters the states expressly agree to delegate to a central governing body

Question 8

connecticut compromise/great compromise

Answer 8

the compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan that created a bicameral legislature with one chamber’s representation based on population and the other chamber having two members for each state

Question 9

constitution

Answer 9

the fundamental principles of a government and the basic structures and procedures by which the government operates to fulfill those principles; may be written or unwritten

Question 10

dual sovereignty

Answer 10

a system of government in which ultimate governing authority is divided between two levels of government, a central government and regional governments, with each level having ultimate authority over different policy matters

Question 11

electoral college

Answer 11

the name given to the body of representatives elected by voters in each state to elect the president and the vice president

Question 12

Federalist No.10*

Answer 12

The federalist paper in which James Madison details how the republic government created by the constitution would ensure that many views would be heard and that a majority could not trample the rights of the numerical minority

Question 13

Federalist No.51*

Answer 13

The federalist paper in which James Madison addressed how the US constitution would protect state power and limit federal power through checks and balances and separation of powers

Question 14

The Federalist Papers

Answer 14

a series of essays, written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, that argued for the ratification of the constitution

Question 15

federalists

Answer 15

individuals who supported the new constitution as presented by the constitutional convention in 1787

Question 16

judicial review

Answer 16

court authority to determine that an action taken by any government official or governing body violates or does not violate the constitution; est by the supreme court in the 1803 Marbury v. Madison case

Question 17

Marbury v. Madison*

Answer 17

the 1803 Supreme Court case that established the power of judicial review, which allows the court to strike down laws passed by the other branches that it views to be in conflict with the constitution

Question 18

natural rights

Answer 18

The rights possessed by all humans as a gift from nature, or God, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (also called unalienable rights).

Question 19

New jersey plan

Answer 19

The proposal presented in response to the Virginia Plan by the less populous states at the Constitutional Convention, which called for a unicameral national legislature in which all states would have an equal voice (equal representation), an executive office composed of several people elected by Congress, and a Supreme Court whose members would be appointed by the executive office.

Question 20

republic

Answer 20

A government that derives its authority from the people and in which citizens elect government officials to represent them in the processes by which laws are made; a representative democracy.

Question 21

separation of powers

Answer 21

The Constitution’s delegation of authority for the primary governing functions among three branches of government so that no one group of government officials controls all the governing functions.

Question 22

supremacy clause

Answer 22

A clause in Article VI of the Constitution that states that the Constitution and the treaties and laws created by the national government in compliance with the Constitution are the supreme law of the land.

Question 23

three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 23

The negotiated agreement by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to count each slave as three-fifths of a free man for the purpose of representation and taxes.

Question 24

unicameral legislature

Answer 24

a legislative body with a single chamber

Question 25

U.S. Constitution*

Answer 25

The document that established the framework for the government of the United States as a republic with separation of powers, and checks and balances.

Question 26

veto

Answer 26

The president’s rejection of a bill, which is sent back to Congress with the president’s objections noted.

Question 27

virginia plan

Answer 27

The new governmental structure proposed by the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention, which consisted of a bicameral legislature (Congress), an executive elected by the legislature, and a separate national judiciary; state representation in Congress would be proportional, based on state population; the people would elect members to the lower house, and members of the lower house would elect the members of the upper house.