Chapter 2 and 3

Question 1

Sugar Act: April, 5, 1764

Answer 1

Revises duties on sugar, coffee, tea, wine, other imports; expands jurisdiction of vice-admiralty courts.

Question 2

Quartering Act: May, 1765

Answer 2

Requires colonists to supply British troops with housing and other items (candles, firewood).

Question 3

Boston Massacre: March, 1770

Answer 3

Five men were killed by British soldiers, Crisps Attucks, a runaway slave from Framingham, MA and subsequent sailor, was the first to die in the attack and thus became the first person to die in the American Revolution.

Question 4

Describe Thomas Jefferson and his accomplishments.

Answer 4

He was the third president of the United States, was the author of the Declaration of Independence and a slave holder, He fathered six children with his slave, Sally Hemings, freeing the children in is lifetime but not freeing their mother in his will.

Question 5

Unitary Form of Government

Answer 5

A system in which the central government exercises complete control and authority over subunits of government, which means that states or other governmental units do not have autonomous powers.

Question 6

Confederation

Answer 6

A system in which states of other types of government until organize a weak central government with limited scope and powers while reserving ultimate power for themselves.

Question 7

Unicameral Form of Government

Answer 7

A government system that consists of only one legislative body (rather than two or more).

Question 8

What were some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 8

D

Question 9

Concurrent Powers

Answer 9

Powers shared by the national government and state governments, such as the power to tax and borrow money.

Question 10

National Government

Answer 10

A system of government in which powers are distributed between the central government.

Question 11

Virginia Plan

Answer 11

Drafted by James Madison of Virginia at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a proposal for a system of government that called for the establishment of a strong central government with three branches: a bicameral legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a powerful judiciary.

Question 12

Bicameral Legislature

Answer 12

A legislature with two bodies, usually referred to as the upper and lower chambers, or, as is most common in the US, the House and the Senate.

Question 13

The New Jersey Plan

Answer 13

Drafted by William Patterson of New Jersey at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a proposal for a system of government that called for the maintenance of a confederation with a unicameral legislature in which al states were represented equally, a multimember executive without the power to veto legislation, and a supreme court.

Question 14

The Great Compromise

Answer 14

Worked out by a committee at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, a compromise that called for membership in the House of Representatives based on population, with states having equal representation in the Senate.

Question 15

Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 15

A compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention over how state populations were to be counted for purposes of allocating seats in the House of Representatives; each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for representational purposes.

Question 16

Federalists

Answer 16

Proponents of the Constitution during the ratification process. They wanted a strong national government with a bicameral national legislature.

Question 17

Antifederalists

Answer 17

Opponents of the Constitution during the ratification process. They preferred a weaker national government with a unicameral national legislature.

Question 18

The Federalist Papers

Answer 18

A collection of the eighty-five articles written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the Constitution.

Question 19

Bill of Rights

Answer 19

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, which focus primarily on individual liberties and basic rights.

Question 20

Supremacy Clause

Answer 20

A clause in Article 6 of the Constitution stipulating that the Constitution and national laws are “supreme,” meaning that when state laws are in conflict with national laws, the latter supersede and take precedence.

Question 21

Enumerated Powers

Answer 21

Powers of the federal government specifically stated in the Constitution.

Question 22

Implied Powers

Answer 22

Government powers that are inferred from the powers expressly enumerated in the Constitution.

Question 23

Necessary and Proper Clause

Answer 23

A clause in Article 1 of the Constitution giving Congress the authority to make whatever laws are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated responsibilities.

Question 24

Separation of Powers

Answer 24

The manner in which the Constitution divides power among the three branches of government – the legislature, executive, and the judiciary.

Question 25

Electoral College

Answer 25

The entity that selects the president and vice president, consisting of 538 electors chosen from the fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Question 26

Federalism

Answer 26

The balance of power between the national government on one side and the state and local governments on the other side.

Question 27

Sovereignty

Answer 27

Complete political power and authority.

Question 28

Bicameral Legislature

Answer 28

A legislature with two bodies, usually referred to as the upper and lower chambers, or, as is most common the House and the Senate.

Question 29

Unicameral Form of Government

Answer 29

A government system that consists of only one legislative body.

Question 30

Gerrymandering

Answer 30

The practice in which a group, usually a political party, uses redistricting to maximize its chances of winning elections.

Question 31

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Answer 31

A federal law that significantly curtailed disenfranchisement of racial and ethnic minorities by banning literacy tests and requiring federal supervision of jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination.

Question 32

Majority-Minority Districts

Answer 32

Legislative districts that contain a population made up of more than 50% of a racial or ethnic minority group.

Question 33

Line-Item Veto

Answer 33

Governors' power to reject specific expenditures and taxes, while allowing the remainder of a bill to stand.

Question 34

Merit System

Answer 34

System of selecting judges in which nonpartisan commission presents the governor with a short list of judicial candidates, out of which the governor selects one name; that judge later appears before the voters in a retention election.

Question 35

Retention Election

Answer 35

A type of judicial election in which voters decide only whether to keep the judge in office; there are no opposition candidates.

Question 36

Dillon's Rule

Answer 36

A principle of local governance in which municipal governments lack independent authority; they can only draw power from their state governments.

Question 37

Home Rule

Answer 37

A principle of local governance in which local governments can govern themselves independently of the state governments.

Question 38

County Commissions

Answer 38

Representative bodies that make policies that apply to the county.

Question 39

Municipalities

Answer 39

The incorporated districts, usually cities or towns, that comprise the local government.

Question 40

School Districts

Answer 40

Local government entities that create policies for public schools.

Question 41

Commerce Clause

Answer 41

A constitutional provision that gives the national government the authority to regulate commerce among the states, foreign nations, and the Indian tribes; it has been used to expand the power of the national government.

Question 42

Extradition Clause

Answer 42

A provision in the Constitution stipulating that if a person is charged with a crime in one state and flees to another state, then the second state must transport the accused criminal back to the first state.

Question 43

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Answer 43

A constitutional provision requiring states to recognize official documents and records from other states.

Question 44

Privileges and Immunities Clause

Answer 44

A provision in Article IV of the Constitution that prevents states from discriminating against citizens of other states.

Question 45

Fugitive Slave Act

Answer 45

A clause in the Constitution stipulating if slaves escaped from a slave state to a free state the free state must return them to their owners in the slave state.

Question 46

Interstate Compact Clause

Answer 46

A clause in Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution that requires the approval of Congress when states enter into official agreements with one another.

Question 47

Bill of Attainder

Answer 47

A law passed by a legislative body that punishes specific people without convicting them in court.

Question 48

Ex Post Facto Law

Answer 48

A criminal sanction that applies retroactively and could result in governments charging people for acts committed before they were outlawed.

Question 49

13 Amendment

Answer 49

An amendment to the Constitution that prohibits slavery throughout the US.

Question 50

14 Amendment

Answer 50

An amendment to the Constitution that prevents states from from denying on the basis of race full citizenship to their residents.

Question 51

Due Process Clause

Answer 51

A specific provision to the 14th amendment that requires states to use normal judicial and criminal procedures before denying a citizen life, liberty, or property.

Question 52

Equal Protection Clause

Answer 52

A specific provision to the 14 amendment that prevents states from passing laws that great people differently on account of are or ethnicity

Question 53

15 Amendment

Answer 53

Amendment that prevents states from denying the right to vote on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Question 54

19 Amendment

Answer 54

prevents states from denying women the right to vote because of their sex.

Question 55

Poll Taxes

Answer 55

Fees that states charged to citizens to cote and that disenfranchised the poor and minority citizens.

Question 56

Police Power

Answer 56

A general, unwritten power to regulate health, safety, and morals.

Question 57

10 Amendment

Answer 57

Guarantees states power not given to the national government or forbidden to the states.

Question 58

Implied Power

Answer 58

Government powers that are inferred from the powers expressly enumerated in the Constitution.

Question 59

Dual Federalism

Answer 59

A view of federalism in which the national government is limited to a strict interpretation of the powers granted in the Constitution, while states enjoy broad police power to rule with their own territory.

Question 60

Monopoly

Answer 60

A situation in which one company controls an entire industry.

Question 61

Grants-In-Aid

Answer 61

National government expenditures that provide money or property to the states to accomplish a policy goal.

Question 62

Separate But Equal

Answer 62

A legal principle that allowed states to segregate the races in public facilities, as long as the state provided each race with basic access to the public facility in question.

Question 63

Cooperative Federalism

Answer 63

A view of federalism in which the national government expands its power and blurs the lines between national and state authority.

Question 64

Incorporation

Answer 64

The application of the Bill of Rights to state and local governments.

Question 65

Categorical Grants

Answer 65

Grants-in-aid that contain numerous, detailed provisions on how the states and local governments use the money.

Question 66

Unfunded Mandates

Answer 66

Directives the national government issues to state and local governments without compensating them for complying.

Question 67

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer 67

A federal law that prevents private businesses from discriminating in servicer and personnel policies.

Question 68

Devolution

Answer 68

A view of federalism that advocates partially returning power to state and local governments.

Question 69

Block Grants

Answer 69

Grants-in-aid from the national government that are general, contain minimal regulations, and give state and local governments considerable discretion on how the money should be used.

Question 70

Preemption

Answer 70

A concept that permits the national government to overturn state and local laws.