STAAR Practice Quiz #1

" The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." -10th amendment

This part of the Bill of Rights was intended to...

• Give people the right to vote on important issues

• Assure the same rights to citizens of all states

• Limit the powers of the Federal Government

• Limit the power of the states over their citizens

An analysis of the federal-state relationship in United States history indicates that these levels of government have

• Cooperated fully in applying national law

• Generally agreed on the assumption of more powers by the state

• Often disagreed over how the state and federal powers are to be balanced

• Both willingly give up power in times of national crisis

Read the excerpts below. Then answer the following question(s).

-Article 1-

"That all government of right originates from the people;...they have...the right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of Government..."

-Article 24-

"That no man ought to be taken or imprisoned... but by the judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land"

-Maryland Declaration of Rights

Which of these constitutional principles is described in Article 1 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights?

• The people should have equal protection under the law

• State governments and the federal government share powers

• The people in a democratic society give their consent to be governed

• Each branch of the government has powers over the other branches

What happens after a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

• The U.S. Supreme Court can prohibit members of Congress from taking a vote on the issue

• The amendment can be approved with three-fourths of the states legislatures ratifying it

• The amendment cannot become part of the Constitution without a popular referendum on it

• The amendment cannot become law until the president first vetoes it

The Mayflower Compact (1620) was significant in the political development of the American Colonies because it introduced the principle of...

• Self-Government

• Separation of Powers

• Freedom of expression

• federalism

In the Colonial Era, developments such as the New England town meetings and the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses represented

• Colonial attempts to build a strong national government

• Efforts by the British to strengthen their control over the colonies

• Steps in the growth of representative democracy

• Early social reform movements

Under mercantilism, the thirteen American colonies were expected to provide Great Britain with

• Finished American-Manufactured goods

• Raw materials and markets for British products

• Officials to represent colonial interests in Parliament

• Laborers to work in British factories

Why did Puritans leave England to establish a colony in America?

• They wanted to spread Christianity among the native peoples of the New World

• They wanted to provide new raw materials to support the Church of England

• They wanted the freedom to practice Christianity in their own way

• They hoped to become rich by planting cotton and tobacco

One goal of the Declaration of Independence was to

• Establish a new monarchy for the Independent states

• Convince the British Parliament to prevent the start of war

• Explain why the colonists felt the need to be free from British rule

• Outline an economic system to raise money for the revolution

A loyalist during the Revolutionary War may have participated in which of these activities?

• Speaking in support of the English King

• Housing patriot soldiers

• Writing a pamphlet protesting the Stamp Act

• Joining the Continental Army