American Democracy Now, 2nd Edition (Harrison)

Chapter 2: The Constitution

Multiple Choice Quiz

1
Which of the following is true about constitutions?
A)They need to be written.
B)They tend to be very precise in their language.
C)They establish the fundamental principles for a government.
D)They establish all the procedures by which a government should achieve its aims.
2
Which of the following was true about American colonial governments?
A)Colonists had almost no control over their governance.
B)Colonists had no power to collect taxes.
C)Colonists elected their governors.
D)Colonists elected assemblymen who enacted much of the colony's civil and criminal law.
3
What was the basis for the colonists' argument that the Stamp and Sugar Acts were unfair?
A)They argued that the government had no right to tax them.
B)They argued that the government had no right to send the taxes collected directly to Britain.
C)They argued both that the government had no right to tax them and that the government had no right to send the taxes collected directly to Britain.
D)None of these answers is correct.
4
Which of the following is true about the movement toward American independence?
A)Samuel Adams was calling for independence as early as 1771.
B)The call for independence did not gain widespread support until 1775.
C)The Continental Congress tried to reconcile with England even after the battles of Lexington and Concord.
D)All these answers are correct.
5
The First Continental Congress did NOT include delegates from
A)Rhode Island.
B)New York.
C)Georgia.
D)North Carolina.
6
Which of the following is true about the pamphlet Common Sense?
A)It was written by Thomas Paine, one of the first Sons of Liberty.
B)It argued that independence from Britain was necessary but unfortunate.
C)It argued that British colonists already had as many liberties as any people in the world.
D)It argued that colonists could only gain civil and religious liberty through independence.
7
Thomas Jefferson used the works of ________ as a basis for the Declaration of Independence.
A)Rousseau and Locke
B)Locke and Smith
C)Rousseau and Hobbes
D)Smith and Hobbes
8
How did their experience as colonists shape the political views of Americans of the Revolutionary era?
A)It made many of them distrustful of legislatures.
B)It made many of them distrustful of centralized power.
C)It made many of them distrustful of judges.
D)It made many of them distrustful of local power.
9
Which of the following is NOT a reason the Declaration of Independence was considered radical in its time?
A)It declared that all men are created equal.
B)It declared that all people are created equal.
C)It declared that natural rights are inalienable.
D)It declared that government must be based on the consent of the governed.
10
Which of the following is true about constitutions before the U.S. state constitutions?
A)They were written.
B)They were created at a specific moment in time.
C)They were neither written nor created at a specific moment in time.
D)They were both written and created at a specific moment in time.
11
Initially, state constitutions placed the majority of power in the
A)legislative branch.
B)judicial branch.
C)executive branch.
D)All branches of government had equal power.
12
Which of the following is true about the Articles of Confederation?
A)It created a national government with executive, legislative and judicial branches.
B)It created a national government with executive and legislative branches.
C)It created a national government with legislative and judicial branches.
D)It created a national government with only a legislative branch.
13
Shays's Rebellion highlighted what particular weakness of the Articles of Confederation?
A)the inability to tax
B)the inability to provide for the common defense
C)the inability to issue money
D)the inability to execute bankruptcies
14
Which of the following most increased the power of the national government under the Constitution?
A)dual sovereignty
B)checks and balances
C)the supremacy clause
D)separation of powers
15
The Connecticut Compromise settled a dispute between
A)states with large populations and states with small populations.
B)states with larger territories and states with smaller territories.
C)northern and southern states.
D)slave states and free states.
16
What did the Three-Fifths Compromise do?
A)establish what percentage of Congress was needed to pass a law
B)establish how much representation southern states would receive for their slave populations
C)establish the percentage of Congress needed to override a presidential veto
D)None of these answers is correct.
17
Which of the following is NOT a check Congress holds on the other two branches of the federal government?
A)impeachment
B)the power to appoint federal judges
C)the power to pardon
D)the power to override a veto
18
What does Article IV of the Constitution do?
A)establish the power of the states under the Constitution
B)establish the limits on state power under the Constitution
C)establish that states must respect the legal proceedings and decisions of other states
D)None of these answers is correct.
19
How was the Constitution ratified?
A)by Congress
B)by state legislatures
C)by state conventions
D)by popular referendum
20
Which of the following is required to propose an amendment to the Constitution?
A)two-thirds vote by both houses of the U.S. Congress
B)a majority vote in a popular referendum
C)an executive order
D)a majority vote in ten or more state legislatures
21
Between ________ and ________ proposed amendments are introduced each congressional session.
A)25; 50
B)100; 200
C)500; 1,000
D)1,000; 2,000
22
A congressional member will often introduce amendments in order to
A)advance a specific policy agenda.
B)extend civil rights for a disfranchised group.
C)change the operation of Congress.
D)please important constituents.
23
How many amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been ratified?
A)10
B)27
C)49
D)74
24
Judicial review is the power awarded to ________ to rule on a law's constitutionality.
A)the U.S. Supreme Court
B)all federal courts
C)all state and federal courts
D)All these answers are correct.
25
Which of the following powers does the U.S. Supreme Court have?
A)the power to enforce laws
B)the power to interpret laws
C)the power to execute laws
D)the power to create laws
Harrison: American Democracy Now, 2nd Edition
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