Constitution ReadWorks Questions

1. What was the name of America's first set of national laws that eventually failed?

• The Declaration of Independence
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Constitution
• The Bill of Rights

2. What are the three parts of the Constitution?

• the Preamble, the Articles, and the Amendments
• the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the charter
• the Articles, the Conclusion, and the Introduction
• the judicial, the executive, and the legislative

3. The text describes the sequence of events leading up to the crafting of the Constitution. What happened after states set up one federal government under the Articles of Confederation?

• The American government stayed the same after the Revolutionary War.
• Representatives from the states met to debate about what should be included in the new Constitution.
• Different states became different countries after the Revolutionary War.
• The Revolutionary War inspired states to fight wars more often, so they all began fighting each other.

4. “Representatives from the states met at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. They debated about what should be included in the Constitution. Large states felt that they should have more representation in Congress, while small states wanted equal representation. The leaders created a bicameral legislative branch, which gave equal representation to each state in the Senate and representation based on population in the House of Representatives.” What can you conclude about the Constitution based on this information?

• The small states became part of the larger states in the Constitution.
• The large states won in the writing of the Constitution.
• The Constitution included things to satisfy both large and small states.
• Leaders could not figure out how to balance different states’ desires.

5. If the Constitution did not have a system of checks and balances, what might have happened to the government?

• The government would not exist anymore.
• One branch of the government might have gotten more powerful than the other branches.
• The executive branch would have gotten rid of the other two branches.
• The government would be the same as it is today.

6. What is the main idea of "The U.S. Constitution" passage?

• The Constitution set up the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the government.
• The Constitution is called a living document because it can be changed through amendments.
• The Revolutionary War was started by American colonists because they were unhappy about paying taxes to the British.
• After the Revolutionary War, Americans had to come up with a new system of government, which was written in the Constitution.

7. What was the Bill of Rights?

• A document that officially declared America's freedom from Great Britain.
• A document that lists the first 10 changes, or amendments, to the Constitution.
• A document that established America's system of government.
• A document that was signed officially declaring the end of the Revolutionary War.

8. Why was the Bill of Rights created?

• Some people felt that the Constitution did not establish a strong enough central government.
• The Continental Congress wanted to establish a new system of government.
• Some people felt that the Constitution did not protect some basic rights and should be changed to protect those rights.
• The Continental Congress regretted writing the Declaration of Independence so they wrote it instead.

9. Which of the following is NOT an amendment listed in the Bill of Rights?

• The right to freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly
• The right of the people to keep and bear arms
• The right to protect against internet access and privacy
• The right to protect against unreasonable search and seizure

10. True or false: The U.S. Constitution remains our nation's set of laws that we still follow today.

• True
• False