Download Unit 1 Study Guide Please note that this is not a complete list of

Unit 1 Study Guide
Please note that this is not a complete list of everything that you need to study. However, being familiar
with this information would be of great benefit.
Chapter 1 – Government and the State
Define government and the basic powers every government holds
Describe the four defining characteristics of the state
Identify four theories that attempt to explain the origin of the state
Understand the purpose of government in the US and other countries
Classify governments according to three sets of characteristics
Define systems of government based on who can participate
Identify different ways that power can be distributed, geographically, within a state
Describe a government by how power is distributed between the executive branch and legislative
branch
Understand the foundations of democracy
Analyze the connections between democracy and the free enterprise system
Identify the role of the Internet in a democracy
Chapter 2 – Origins of American Government
Identify the three basic concepts of government that influenced government in America
Explain the significance of the following landmark documents:
Magna Carta
Petition of Right
English Bill of Rights
Describe the three types of colonies that the English established in North America
Explain how Britain’s colonial policies contributed to the growth of self-government in the colonies
Identify some of the steps that led to growing feelings of colonial unity
Compare the outcome of the First Continental Congress to that of the Second Continental Congress
Analyze the ideas of the Declaration of Independence
Describe the drafting of the first State constitutions and summarize the constitutions’ common features
Describe the structure of the government set up under the Articles of Confederation
Explain why the weaknesses of the Articles led to a critical period for the government in the 1780s
Describe how the need for a stronger National Government led to plans for a Constitutional Convention
Identify the Framers of the Constitution and discuss how the delegates organized the proceedings at the
Philadelphia Convention
Compare and contrast the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey plan for a new constitution
Summarize the major compromises that the delegates agreed to make and the effects of those
compromises
Identify some of the sources from which the Framers of the Constitution drew inspiration
Describe the delegates’ reaction to the Constitution as they completed their work in Philadelphia
Identify the opposing sides in the fight for ratification and describe the major arguments for and against
the Constitution
Describe the inauguration of the new government of the United States of America
Chapter 3 – The Constitution
Outline the important elements of the Constitution
List the six basic principles of the Constitution
Identify the four different ways in which the Constitution may be formally changed
Explain how the formal amendment process illustrates the principles of federalism and popular
sovereignty
Outline the 27 amendments that have been added to the Constitution
Identify how basic legislation has changed the Constitution over time
Describe the ways in which the Constitution has been altered by executive and judicial actions
Analyze the role of party practices and customs in shaping the Constitution
Chapter 4- Federalism
Define federalism and explain why the Framers chose this system of government
Identify which powers are delegated to and which are denied to the National Government
Describe which powers are delegated to and which are denied the States
Understand that the National Government holds both exclusive powers and concurrent powers with the
States
Explain the role of local governments in the federal system
Examine how the Constitution functions as “the supreme law of the land”
Summarize the nation’s obligations to the States
Examine the process for admitting new States to the Union
Explore the benefits of cooperative federalism
Examine why States form interstate compacts
Understand the purpose of the Full Faith and Credit Clause
Define extradition and explain its purpose
Discuss the purpose of the Privileges and Immunities Clause
Terms
Anti-Federalists
Boycott
Commerce and Slave Trade Comprise
Connecticut Compromise
English Bill of Rights
Federalists
Magna Carta
Representative government
Virginia Plan
Petition of Right
Charter colonies
Articles of Confederation
Proprietary colonies
Block grant
Concurrent powers
Exclusive powers
Revenue sharing
Reserved powers
Act of admission
Extradition
Grants-in-aid program
Inherent powers
Enabling act
Privileges and Immunities Clause
Main Ideas
Broad purposes of the US Government as spelled out in the Preamble of the Constitution
Enlightenment thinkers and their views about the purpose of the state
The theory of modern democracies was developed to challenge what idea of government
Federal government
The Internet seems especially suited to satisfy which of the needs in a democracy
In charter colonies most governmental matters were handled by
Which colony was founded mainly as a place for personal and religious freedom?
Which State’s constitution is the oldest still in force today?
After the Revolutionary war the government under the Articles of Confederation
Benjamin Franklin’s opinion about the final Constitution
George Washington’s inauguration as the first president of the U.S.
Major objective of both the Annapolis Convention and the Philadelphia Convention
Legislative branch under the Articles of Confederation
Second Continental Congress
Popular Sovereignty
The Bill of Rights
Unwritten custom changes to the constitution
Judicial review
Limited government
Formal amendments to the Constitution
Constitutional change as a result of party practices
The basic constitutional rights of people were first set out in
Executive agreement
Judiciary Act of 1789
Federalism
Concurrent powers
Local governments derive their power from was sources