Question 1

Which of the following is a check by the legislative branch on the powers of the executive branch?

Accepted Answer

A)  Congress may rule that a presidential action is unconstitutional. 
B)  The Supreme Court may veto presidential orders. 
C)  The Supreme Court recommends legislation to the judicial branch that is assured to pass constitutional muster. 
D)  The president may veto a law passed by the legislative branch. 
E)  The senate must consent to all presidential appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 2

When the call went out to all 13 state governments seeking their attendance at the Annapolis Convention in September 1786, how many states sent delegations?

Accepted Answer

A)  none 
B)  two 
C)  five 
D)  ten 
E)  all thirteen

Question 3

The Virginia Plan provided for a ______________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  bicameral legislature with one chamber elected by the people and a second chamber selected by the first chamber 
B)  unicameral legislature with the members selected by each state legislature 
C)  unicameral legislature with members elected by the people 
D)  bicameral legislature with members of both chambers elected by the people 
E)  bicameral legislature with one chamber elected by the people and the second chamber chosen by state legislatures

Question 4

The Great Compromise provided for a ___________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and a second house selected by the first 
B)  unicameral legislature with the members selected by each state legislature 
C)  unicameral legislature elected by the people 
D)  bicameral legislature elected by the people 
E)  bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and the second house chosen by state legislatures

Question 5

The New Jersey Plan provided for a ___________________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and a second house selected by the first 
B)  unicameral legislature with the members selected by each state legislature 
C)  unicameral legislature elected by the people 
D)  bicameral legislature elected by the people 
E)  bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and the second house chosen by state legislatures

Question 6

Including the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution has __________ Amendments.

Accepted Answer

A)  twelve 
B)  one 
C)  ten 
D)  twenty-seven 
E)  fifty-three

Question 7

Prior to creation of our current constitutional structure in the 1770s, the 13 colonial governments ___________.

Accepted Answer

A)  were recognized as independent, sovereign entities by other world powers 
B)  mirrored those of England during the same period, including an elected House of Commons 
C)  had governors who were elected by the qualified voters 
D)  were completely subordinate to a powerful central government 
E)  did not exist

Question 8

Following France's defeat in the French and Indian Wars, the Treaty of Paris in 1763 settled the dispute by _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  ceding all lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to Spain, except for New Orleans that was ceded to England 
B)  forcing France to accept and pay all debts to the new territories that were gained by England 
C)  declaring a total truce and leaving all territories in the hands of those who held them prior to the war 
D)  awarding to England territories between the Arctic Circle and the Gulf of Mexico, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River 
E)  equally distributing all territories in North America between the nations of France and England

Question 9

The Great Compromise, (or the Connecticut Compromise) of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 created a two-chamber legislature with _______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  equal representation in both chambers from each state. 
B)  representation in both chambers determined by population of the state 
C)  representation in one chamber determined by population of the state and in the other chamber by equal representation 
D)  one chamber that had effective powers and the second chamber that acted as a figurehead for nobility 
E)  each state determining the number of representatives that it will send

Question 10

In opposition to the recommendations of the Virginia delegates during the Constitutional Convention, the New Jersey Plan advocated a single-chamber legislature with ___________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  equal representation among the states regardless of population 
B)  slaves counting as three-fifths of a whole person 
C)  the Supreme Court determining the number of representatives from each state 
D)  no executive branch 
E)  lifelong appointments for representatives

Question 11

Which of the following was not a weakness of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

Accepted Answer

A)  the ability to create a nationwide postal service 
B)  the lack of authority to raise troops 
C)  the inability to enforce laws 
D)  the ability of states to independently negotiate with foreign powers 
E)  the inability of Congress to raise an army by its own power

Question 12

The series of regulatory measures passed by England in the decade between 1763 and 1774 was for the purpose of __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  paying war debt that England had accumulated as a result of the French and Indian Wars 
B)  upsetting the colonists and promoting revolution 
C)  punishing colonists for showing revolutionary tendencies 
D)  creating a United States of America that would operate under a common set of rules 
E)  creating a united defense in the colonies to protect against threats from other nations

Question 13

"Separation of powers" is an application of the political philosophy of _____________.

Accepted Answer

A)  Hobbes 
B)  Montesquieu 
C)  de Tocqueville 
D)  Rousseau 
E)  Locke

Question 14

Which of the following was not part of the colonial government?

Accepted Answer

A)  royal governors 
B)  governor's council 
C)  colonial general assembly 
D)  colonial archbishop 
E)  both governor's council and colonial general assembly

Question 15

Which of the following is not true concerning the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Bill of Rights was added as the first amendments to the Constitution after it was ratified by the states. 
B)  Several prominent members of the Constitutional Convention, such as James Madison, originally opposed the Bill of Rights. 
C)  Most states already had existing constitutions that enumerated the rights of the individual. 
D)  The Bill of Rights was a prominent element of the new Constitution and it was written into the document early in the process. 
E)  Several states at first refused to ratify the new Constitution because of its lack of a Bill of Rights.

Question 16

According to the authors, why did the writers of the Constitution create such a difficult amendment process?

Accepted Answer

A)  They distrusted people to be active in the political process. 
B)  They wanted to protect the Constitution from short-lived or temporary passions. 
C)  They did not want any person or institution to tamper with their original work. 
D)  They assumed a new constitution would be written about once each generation. 
E)  They distrusted the motives and abuses of powers by state governments.

Question 17

Which of the 13 original states was so opposed to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 that it refused to send a delegate, so the U.S. Constitution was written without its participation?

Accepted Answer

A)  New York 
B)  Virginia 
C)  Pennsylvania 
D)  Rhode Island 
E)  California

Question 18

For which of the following purposes did Congress originally call for the Philadelphia Convention?

Accepted Answer

A)  to abolish the Articles of Confederation 
B)  to draft amendments to the Articles of Confederation 
C)  to return the young nation to a monarchy 
D)  to elect the president of the United States 
E)  to declare war on Canada

Question 19

The wording in the Declaration of Independence drew heavily upon John Locke's theories of ______________.

Accepted Answer

A)  natural rights and social contract 
B)  royal prerogative 
C)  anarchy and self-actualization 
D)  religion as a counterweight to reason 
E)  self-fulfillment

Exam 2: The Founding and the Constitution