Directions:  Choose the one best answer, and mark your paper with the appropriate letter.

1.  After the Revolution, the 13 states were first organized into a nation with a document called “The
Articles of Confederation.”  What was the main problem with that system?

  A. The national and state governments were equal in power.
  B. The national government was too weak, and states had most of the power.
  C. The national government was too strong, and states had very little power.
  D. There were no state governments at all.

2.  The opening lines of the Constitution, beginning with “We the People,” tell the purposes or goals
of the Constitution.  What is this section called?

  A. The Declaration of Sentiments
  B. The Preamble
  C. The Federalist
  D. The Common Law

3.  The Constitution created a design of government known as federalism or a federal system.  Which
of these statements best defines the system of federalism? 

  A. It is a system with a strong national government.
  B. It is a system with two “houses” in the legislative branch. 
  C. It is a system that has three branches of government.
  D. It is a system in which power is divided between the national and the state levels.

4. In what year was the Constitution written and sent to the states for ratification?

  A. 1783
  B. 1787
  C. 1791
  D. 1795

5.  Which of these is NOT the name of one of the three major branches of the federal government
as described in the Constitution?

  A. the Judicial
  B. the Legislative
  C. the Bureaucracy
  D. the Executive

6.  What was the result of the “Great Compromise” during the writing of the Constitution?

  A. It gave us a two-house Congress, with a Senate and a House of Representatives.
  B. It gave us a national government with three branches.
  C. It required at least nine states to ratify the Constitution
  D. It created a Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

7.  The Constitution sets various terms for various elected officials in the federal government.  Who
is given the shortest term before facing reelection? 

  A. members of the House of Representatives 
  B. members of the Senate
  C. the president
  D. All elected federal officials have the same term of office.

8.  What determines the number of members that each state can elect to the House of Representatives?

  A. the date the state officially joined the United States
  B. the land area of the state
  C. the population of the state
  D. All states have the same number of Representatives.

9.  Why did the delegates in Philadelphia create a system of “separation of powers” and
“checks and balances” in the Constitution?

  A. They wanted to be sure the federal law was supreme over any state law.
  B. They wanted to try to avoid any disputes over the issue of slavery.
  C. They wanted to promote business and industry in the new country.
  D. They wanted to prevent any one branch of the government from 
  gaining too much power.

10.  The power of “judicial review” means

  A. the Supreme Court can declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional.
  B. the president can review a law passed by Congress and veto it.
  C. people accused of a crime have a right to a lawyer.
  D. courts have the power to review evidence submitted for trials.

11.  If a majority of the popular vote in a presidential election goes for candidate “Smith” but a
majority of the Electoral College votes goes to candidate “Jones,” what happens?

  A. Candidate Smith becomes the president.
  B. Candidate Jones becomes the president.
  C. The House of Representatives must decide who become president.
  D. There must be a new election. 

12.  What view did Anti-Federalists like Patrick Henry of Virginia have of the proposed
Constitution as it was sent to the states for ratification?

  A. They were the greatest supporters of ratification of the Constitution. 
  B. They opposed the Constitution.
  C. They generally wanted more power given to the national government.
  D. They avoided taking any position on the issue of the Constitution.

13.  If a lawyer says he is an expert in “First Amendment cases,” he probably is often in court
on cases involving

  A. guns and citizens’ rights to “bear arms”
  B. search warrants and similar cases 
  C. accused criminals who do not want to testify against themselves
  D. citizens’ rights to freedom of speech, press, and religion

14.  To get a search warrant for a house, what must a police officer do to meet the requirements
of the Fourth Amendment? 

  A. obtain proof that a crime has been committed in that house
  B. show that “probable cause” exists that an object involved in a crime is in that house
  C. obtain at least two witnesses who saw the same suspicious object in that house
  D. swear before a judge that the occupant of that house is a suspect of a crime

15.  What role does the Constitution give to the president in regard to the military?

  A. He is prohibited from having any power over the military.
  B. The Constitution makes no mention of the subject.
  C. The president is the commander in chief of the military forces.
  D. The president has the power to advise the military, but no other power.

16.  Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

  A. mainly to protect the powers of the new federal government
  B. mainly to set clear limits to the powers of the new federal government
  C. mainly to list the powers of the state governments
  D. mainly to expand the powers of the state governments

17.  What is the Cabinet? 

  A. a nickname for the Congress 
  B. a group designated by the Constitution to oversee the election of the president
  C. the key leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives 
  D. the heads of the federal executive departments who advise the president 

18.  Which of these figures was most important in establishing a solid financial foundation
and banking system for the United States in its early years?

  A. George Washington
  B. Thomas Jefferson
  C. Alexander Hamilton
  D. John Adams

19.  How did the political party system first come into use in the United States?

  A. Parties were always part of the election system under the rules of the Constitution.
  B. Parties organized as George Washington was first elected president.
  C. Parties organized based on the different political views of Alexander Hamilton 
        and Thomas Jefferson during President Washington’s second term.
  D. Parties organized when Thomas Jefferson was elected the third president. 

20.  What was the objection critics of the Sedition Act made during the election of 1800? 

  A. The law violated the citizens’ free speech rights to criticize the government.
  B. The law violated the principle of “separation of church and state.”
  C. The law violated the rights of inventors.
  D. The law violated the right to bear arms.
 
 

Copyright 2001, 2004 by David Burns
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