Which of the following is true about the U.S. Constitution?
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The Constitution can be amended with a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress and a ratification vote by three-fourths of the states.
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Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?
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It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South.
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Who was Gregory Watson?
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a University of Texas undergraduate who began a successful campaign in 1982 to complete the ratification process for an amendment stating that no congressional pay increase can take effect until the next Congress is elected
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The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called ________.
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federalism
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During the ratification debates, the Antifederalists were those who
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opposed the new Constitution because they wanted a weaker central government.
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What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?
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a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War
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A ________ is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body.
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confederation
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The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to
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prevent the new government from abusing its power.
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The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was the ________.
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popular majority
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The electoral college is
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designed to select the president of the United States.
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James Madison believed that the greatest conflict of interest in the Philadelphia convention was between ________ and ________.
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northern states; southern states
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________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.
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John Adams
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There are ________ amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
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27
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The framers attempted to reassure citizens that their views would be represented in the new government created by the Constitution by
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requiring the direct election of senators, members of the House, and the president
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The purpose of the Annapolis Convention was to
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discuss revamping the Articles of Confederation
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The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.
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Article I, Section 8
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How many amendments to the Constitution have been formally proposed in Congress in U.S. history?
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more than 11,000
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Who were the authors of the Federalist Papers?
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James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton
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The writing of the Constitution demonstrates the
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marriage of interests and principles.
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The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of
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withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
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The most important political value for the framers of the Constitution was ________.
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individual liberty
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Judicial review is the power of
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the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.
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The 1787 convention to draft a new Constitution was held in ________.
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Philadelphia
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The Stamp Act was a
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tax on commerce.
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The idea of a "living constitution" means that
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the judiciary can shape the interpretation of the Constitution in line with contemporary problems and values.
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The Three-Fifths Compromise
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determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.
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In order for the Constitution to be formally adopted, ________ of the ________ states in the Union had to agree to its terms.
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9; 13
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Which of the following statements about the income tax is most accurate?
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Although the income tax is currently one of the most important sources of government revenue, it had not yet developed during British rule over the colonies in the eighteenth century.
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The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.
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Connecticut Compromise
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The delegates at the Philadelphia convention turned down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution because they believed that
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since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers, further protection of citizens was not needed.
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The United States' first written constitution was called the ________.
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Articles of Confederation
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The decision to assign jurisdiction over controversies between citizens of different states to the Supreme Court was significant because it meant that
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the federal judiciary, rather than the state courts, would ultimately become the primary venue for resolving disputes.
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The Boston Tea Party was largely a response to the
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British government's decision to grant the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.
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What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?
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representation would be equal for each state
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Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable political statement for its time?
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It helped unify colonial groups that were divided along economic, regional, and philosophical lines by identifying shared problems, grievances, and principles.
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The Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to
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regulate interstate commerce.
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According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were mostly concerned with
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promoting their own economic interests.
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The president's power to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of ________.
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checks and balances
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According to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of government is to
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promote justice and secure the "blessings of liberty"
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The most common method of passing an amendment to the Constitution is passage
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in both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote, followed by a majority vote in three-fourths of the state legislature.
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The power of judicial review was
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asserted by the court in the case Marbury v. Madison.
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Successful amendments to the Constitution
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are most commonly concerned with the structure or composition of the government.
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The American victory in the Revolutionary War changed the balance of political power in the new states so that royal land, office, and patent holders
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were significantly weakened, and prerevolutionary radicals became the controlling forces in many state legislatures
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Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.
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a mixed regime
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How was political power in the Continental Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?
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Each state had an equal vote.
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Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the division of
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Congress into two chambers.
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Which of the following statements best describes British rule of the American colonies during the first half of the eighteenth century?
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The British ruled with a light hand and exerted almost no influence at all in any colonial town or city.
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A ________ is a person who believes that the Constitution should not be amended by judges and that judges should adhere closely to the document's text.
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strict constructionist
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In order to win concessions from large states at the Philadelphia convention, representatives from smaller states such as Delaware threatened to
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form alliances with foreign nations.
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What does the supremacy clause assert?
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The Constitution and all laws made under it are superior to any state laws.
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Which of the following statements best describes the framers' view of liberty?
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Liberty is less important than social and economic equality.
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The Virginia Plan proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based on
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the population of each state, the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both.
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One reason for the Constitution's longevity is that it
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did not confer permanent advantage on any one set of economic or social forces.
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A ________ vote by both houses of Congress and a ratification vote of ________ of the states are required to amend the U.S. Constitution.
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two-thirds; three-fourths
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Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?
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U.S. representative
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The Articles of Confederation were adopted in ________.
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1781
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What is the term length of a federal judge?
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barring impeachment, life
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Which of the following statements best summarizes the Federalists' view on representation?
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Representatives need not be a "true picture of the people," and the best system of representation allows citizens to elect individuals possessing ability, experience, and talent superior to their own.
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The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of
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withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
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Federal judges are appointed by the ________ and must be approved by the ________.
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president; Senate
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In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the framers of the Constitution
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included the elastic clause in the Constitution.
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In the United States, the right to private property is
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explicitly mentioned in the First Amendment.
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Which statement about amendments to the Constitution is most accurate?
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One amendment to the Constitution has been successfully repealed
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