The Constitution and Founding Fathers

Topic Page

Questions

• Why was the publication of "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine so important?
• Who was the second President of the United States?
• How successful was Washington's presidency?
• What was Alexander Hamilton‘s plan to speed up industrialization in the United States?
• Who said "Give me liberty or give me death!"?
• How did the opinions of Jefferson and Hamilton regarding the public debt differ?
• What branch of government gave Jefferson trouble?
• What is the Amendment Process?
• Where did the Second Continental Congress first meet in?
• What famous event proved that the Articles of Confederation were weak and prompted the Constitutional Convention? What happened during this event?
• Do you think the Founders' concerns about government are as valid today as they were in the 1700s?
• Why did the Continental Congress draw up the Articles of Confederation?
• What is the Continental Congress?
• What was Alexander Hamilton's ”radical” proposal for the executive branch?
• Who made up Washington's cabinet?
• Because of the meeting in Annapolis in 1786, what did Alexander Hamilton do in 1787? Who did he want to attend?
• Which states met in Annapolis, Maryland in 1786?
• How does James Madison feel about a federal government?
• How was Alexander Hamilton killed?
• What was Washington's job during the Constitutional Convention?
• Where did Washington take the oath of office to be sworn in as President?
• Why did Washington want America to remain neutral in the war between Britain and France?
• What national event in 1786 brought to America's attention the need for a stronger central government?
• Who invented the lightning rod, bifocals, and the catheter?
• What are the Articles of Confederation?
• What powers did the Congress have under the Articles of Confederation have?
• The Articles of Confederation contained several weaknesses, why would the United States purposefully create a weak government under the Articles?
• According to the Articles of Confederation, what power was granted to Congress?
• The Articles of Confederation denied Congress the power to collect taxes, could a government survive today without this power?
• How would the United States work and look socially and politically if the Articles of Confederation was still operating today?
• How does the death penalty violate the 14th amendment?
• What is the difference between the 14th amendment and the 5th amendment?
• Why was the 14th amendment important to the civil rights movement?
• Why did the majority of southern states refuse to ratify the 14th amendment?
• Why is the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution important to immigrants?
• Why did the south reject the 14th amendment?
• What delayed the inauguration of the new government under the U.S. Constitution?
• Which compromise combined parts of the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan to make the legislature like it is today?
• Why is James Madison known as the "Father of the Consthution"?
• What kind of governments did state constitutions create?
• What did Jefferson do because he was concerned with the number of Federalists working in the government?
• Why do you think George Washington's presidency was so important in the development of the young nation?
• What were the two biggest issues at the Constitutional Convention and the two Compromises to help solve them?
• According to the Ninth Amendment, who retains rights not specifically listed in the Constitution?
• What did the Judiciary Act of 1789 establish?
• What departments did Washington create and whom did he appoint to head them?
• What decisions did Washington and the first Congress have to make about the new government?
• Why was George Washington's job as commander of the Continental Army difficult?
• Where did legislators' ideas for the Bill of Rights come from?
• What did the Framers add to the U.S. Constitution that showed the importance they placed on a free press?
• What actions did the First and Second Continental Congresses take?
• How many branches of government were organized under the Articles of Confederation?
• According to Thomas Jefferson, what is the most sacred of duties of government?
• When was Washington's inauguration?
• How was Thomas Jefferson influenced by Locke?
• Why do you think Alexander Hamilton wanted to pay back the bonds from the confederation government?
• Why did Hamilton want to create a national bank?
• How did Hamilton compromise to get southerners to go along with his economic plan?
• What was Hamilton's opinion of the American people?
• Who enforced national laws during the period of the Articles of Confederation?
• How many of the original proposed changes to the Constltutlon were approved by the states?
• In what city was the first capital of the United States?
• What is meant by the term "landmark case"?
• Which state ratified the Constitution in April of 1788?
• Question #57c86
• To what body did the Articles of Confederation give the most governmental power?
• What did Washing ton's actions in crushing the Whiskey Rebellion signify to the country?
• What is the most powerful clause within the Constitution?
• What is the only legal direct tax, which was passed by the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution?
• Why is the election of 1824 (the one Jackson lost) known as the "Corrupt Bargain"?
• Is the arrest and detain procedure different in the U.S. than in Canada?
• Question #96ed1
• What is most characteristic of the "Great Compromise" of the Constitution?
• What was the Great Compromise in the U.S. Constitution?
• Why was the Fourth Amendment added to the Constitution?
• Why was Freedom of Religion added to the First Amendment?
• What is the source of most of our civil liberties that we enjoy as Americans?
• What city and in what year was the Constitution written?
• How did the Founders think the power of government could be limited?
• How does the US Constitution limits the power of the executive branch?
• Who shall have the power to "be Commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several states," according to the US Constitution?
• What did Sam Adams' friends buy for him before he went to the Continental Congress?
• What was Benjamin Franklin's idea about Earth's interior?
• What objection did Jefferson have to the new federal Constitution?
• What was Hamilton's Financial Program?
• What was Benjamin Franklin's position on colonial representation in 1765, and why had his view changed by 1770?
• Question #8a0c5
• How has the executive branch changed since George Washington?
• When the First Continental Congress met, which one of the original thirteen colonies was not represented?
• Why did the Preamble to the Constitution begin with the phrase, "We the People"?
• Why did James Madison argue that separation of powers and checks and balances were particularly necessary in a republic?
• Of the original 13 American colonies that sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention, what were the last 3 colonies that ratified the Constitution?
• According to Benjamin Franklin and John Locke, what should a good government do?
• What motivated the Founding Fathers to include the phrase "we the People" in the Preamble of U.S. Constitution?
• Why did delegates gather in 1787 for the Constitutional Convention?
• Who was Alexander Hamilton and what was his biggest contribution to the United States of America?
• Why did James Madison write the Bill of Rights?
• What was the main advantage to the federal government having the sole power of printing and coining money?
• In the Great Compromise, what did small states and large states give up?
• Who was the President of the United States in 1793?
• What was the capital of the United States in 1793?
• Why did southern farmers oppose Hamilton's plans for the economy?
• According to the Articles of Confederation, who had the most power?
• What was Alexander Hamilton's program for dealing with national and state debt?
• What three steps did Hamilton's financial plan include?
• Why was the 3/5 Compromise important?
• Which branch of government create and pass legislation?
• Which Article of the Constitution addresses executive branch of the government?
• Who wanted a strong national government and urged the ratification of the Constitution?
• Which Enlightenment thinkers and ideas are reflected in important U.S. documents like the Declaration of Independence. the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights?
• Who is called the "Father of the Constitution" because of his work at the Constitutional Convention?
• Question #0908a
• Question #94646
• Question #1800d
• How many original amendments to the Constitution were added and ratified by 1791?
• Why did the Founding Fathers create two houses in the legislative branch?
• Question #be381
• What compromises were reached at the Constitutional Convention?
• Which compromise created a bicameral legislature?
• Why did some people feel important to add the Bill of Rights to the was Constitution?
• What were some of the accomplishments of the Articles of Confederation?
• What war ultimately defined Madison's presidency?
• Question #6028d
• Question #f53b6
• Question #7b416
• What were the disagreements between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton?
• What event exposed the need for a Second Bank of the United States?
• Question #8f9e9
• Why did the Framers of the Constitution decide on having an Electoral College?
• Question #43483
• Where did American leaders write the constitution?
• Why did delegates from the American colonies meet in Philadelphia in 1775?
• Why did Thomas Jefferson object to letting the national government issue a charter for a national bank?
• Why did the delegates to the Constitutional Convention adopt the Great Compromise?
• What part of the government did the Articles of Confederation weaken?
• Who was elected the first vice President?
• How did Alexander Hamilton plan to handle the national debt?
• What proposal was included in Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's financial plans in the 1790s?
• Why did many of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention oppose the ratification of the Constitution?
• What were the effects of the termination of the Bank of the United States?
• The Anti-federalists demanded a series of amendments to the Constitution to protect individual liberties. They were adopted in 1791 and are known as what?
• Why is the number of members in the House of Representatives based on state population and the Senate is two per state?
• Did the Articles of Confederation make the government strong or weak?
• The First Amendment clause which prohibits the government from passing any laws that establish an official religion is known as what?
• Why doesn't the government get to punish anyone it suspects of a crime in any way it wants? Why does it generally have to prove guilt?
• How did Anti-Federalists feel about a strong central government?
• What does the 4th Amendment protects people from?
• What was the main idea of Article Two?
• What was a weakness in the Continental Congress?
• What two major parts are there in the Legislative Branch?
• How did the small states get what they wanted in regard to representation in the new constitution?
• Which document was written to support the new Constitution and encourage ratification?
• What did the authors of the Constitution want to avoid?
• What was added to the US Constitution to protect citizen's individual rights?
• How were the rights of African Americans guaranteed in the Constitution?
• Which state made the proposal to create a bicameral national legislature, with representation based proportionally on each state's population?
• How did the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise help the convention reach agreements?
• What challenges did the early leaders have in implementing the Constitution?
• Why did they allow freedom of speech in the Constitution?
• What is the Freedom of the Press and why is it important?
• What are the first 10 Amendments are called?
• What are the three requirements for President and VP?
• Where in the Constitution does it guarantee that the national government will not usurp state powers?
• What is the greatest power that the Congress has to check the president?
• What Inspired Americans to have a bi-carmel (two house) legislative branch?
• Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures?
• Was the law that Congress passed against sedition in 1798 a violation of Americans' right to freedom of speech? Why or why not?
• Which President established the custom of not seeking a third term?