Constitution Study Questions

1) What are the three branches of government and what are the powers of each?

1. Legislative Branch: It's the lawmaking branch. Congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Representatives were based on the population because of the Great Compromise. Each state had two senators. The congresses powers were to collect taxes, coin money, regulate trade, and declare war or 'raise and support armies'.

2. Executive Branch: It was lead by the president who carried out the nations laws and policies. He serves as commander in chief of the armed forces and conducts relations with foreign countries. The president and the vice president are elected by a special group called the Electoral College which is made up of presidential electors. Each state gets to choose their electors to cast their vote, and each state has many because they have senators and representatives in Congress. The president elected serves a four year term.

3. Judicial Branch:  The court system. They take care of cases involving the Constitution, laws passed by the Congress, and disputes between states. 'One supreme court'

2) How can these branches check and balance each other?

It had to do with the separation of powers; the constitution divides government power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. So not one branch gained more power than another, they built a system of Checks and Balances. The three branches have roles that check or limit the others so that no single branch can dominate the other. Both the Senate and the House have to pass the bill for it to become a law, and the president can check Congress by vetoing the bill. The Congress however can override the president's veto by having two-thirds of members from both houses of Congress vote for the bill. 

It also applies to the supreme court where the president appoints Supreme Court justices and they Senate must approve the appointments. 

3) What were the compromises to the constitution?

     1. Two-House Legislature (had to do with population)

     2. The three-fifths compromise- They counted each enslaved person for 3/5 the amount of a free person for both taxation and representation. 

     3. Northern states agreed tat the Congress could not interfere with the slave trade for 20 years or util 1808. 

    4. A Bill of Rights had to be made so the government didn't abuse their power. Most of the delegates thought the constitution was enough so the proposal was turned down. 

4) Who wrote the Federalist papers?

Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay.

5) What was the Bill of Rights? Why did some states demand its inclusion before they ratified the constitution?

The bill of rights was to protect individual freedoms. The antifederalists were the main people that wanted it because they believed that no government could be trusted to protect the freedom of the citizens. They feared oppression and the amount of power that the government would get.  

6) What were the anti-federalists main fears about the constitution?

They thought that the Constitution would take away their liberties Americans had fought to win from Great Britain. They also believed that it would create a strong central government that would be led by a small educated group of people. Another argument was that it might ignore the will of the states and the people, and favor the wealthy few over the common people. They didn't like that the governments control wasn't close to their people.