Government Exam II

Constitutions limit government authority by setting forth individual liberties that the government cannot violate.

The constitution is seen as the "supreme law of the land"

A constitution cannot be changed by the ordinary acts of government bodies; change can come only through a process of general popular consent

The Mayflower Compact set a precedent of a government established by contract with the governed.

Interferance in American affairs by British led to the First Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence.

The first to sign the Declaration of Independence was John Hancock.

The Revolutionary war ended with the surrender of Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia.

Under the Article of Confederation, the United States was really a confederation of sovereign nations.

During the War of Independence from Great Britain, 90 percent of the funds requisitioned by Congress from the states was never paid.

Without national power to regulated interstate commerce under the Articles of Confereation states were free to taxx the goods from other states.

Tarrif - a tax imposed on imported products.

Under the Articles of Confederation, each state could coin and regulate money. Legal tender laws required creditors to accept state money if offered as payment of a debt.

Shay's Rebellion caused America's leaders to support the creation of a strong central government in order to do away with state militias.

Following the meeting at Mont Vernon, the Annapolis Convention, meant to discuss interstate commerce, turned out to be a key stepping-stone for the Constitutional convention of 1787

Rhode Island refused to send delegates to teh Constitutional Convention.

Republicanism- government by representatives of the people.

The Founders believed that the people should only be able to select the representatives in the House of Representatives.

The idea that governement originates form an implied contract among people who agree to obey laws in exchange for protection of their natural rights is social contract.

The Founders shared a bleif in nationalism - that a strong national government with the power to govern directly.

The man who was known as "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen" was George Washington.

The only legal source of authority for both the states and the nations is the US Constitution.

Federalism was design to share power between the national government and the states.

The United states, under the Article of Confederation, was a confederation.

Under federalism, the essential day-to-day services, such as fire and police protection, are provided by the state and local governments.

The Federal system in the United States is large and complex and the three levels of governmetn are National, state, and local.

The Founders believed that majority rule in a democratic government made it particularly important to devise ways to protect minorities and individuals form unjust majorities.

The Founders belived that federalism would help to protect liberty, disperse power, and manage conflict.

Federalism divides the powers of government between the nation adn the states.

By seperating powers among the national branches and between the national government and the states, the Founders believed that the governments would control each other and themselves.

Rather than being a sovereign political state, the European Union is more of an economic alliance.

State income taxes are set by individual state governments.

States have the right to provide education, highways, and social welfare as part of their reserved powers.

Embodied in the Tenth Amendment, powers not granted to the national government but not specifically denied to the stats in the constitution are the reserved powers.

The Constitution denies the national government the power to give preferance to the ports of any state.

The Bill of Rights originally applied only to the national government.

The Fourteenth Amendment provided that the stats must also adhere to the funamental guarantees found in the Bill of Rights.

Federalism has evolved over the last 200 years from a state-centered division of power to a nation-centered system of government.

Under state-centered federalism, the supremacy of the national government was frequently challanged.

Under state-centered federalism, the states were responsible for resolving most policy questions and providing most public services.

Under dual federalism, the national government concentrated is attention on its delegated powers.

The model of federalism in which policy responsibilieties are merged among national, state and local government, is described as a marble cake.

Review the Supreme Courts decision on the case of McCulloch vs Maryland.