Federalism Questions
6AP US History Federalism Questions I. Answer the following questions as fully as possible. Use the Internet, The American Pageant, or other sources to find the answers. Also please list your sources for each question. 1. What were the major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the Constitution at the Constitutional Conference in May 1787. Members of the Conference saw to replace the Articles because it was weak. The articles did not effectively unify the nation with a central government. No centralized government would lead to conflicts within and between states.
Also Constitution had direct taxation, which would be a source of money for the government. There was no strong foreign policy either. 2. What were some of the key elements of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787? The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was a very important law for the newly founded America. It gave all unclaimed land to the federal government. It allowed the government to establish territories, which could become states after the area achieves a population of 60,000. Territories could also establish governments when their population of free white men was 5,000.
The law also made waterways like the Mississippi and St. Lawrence rivers free for travel for United States Citizens. Religious freedom, habeas corpus and bans on cruel and unusual punishment were established. The northern Territories were also declared free of slavery. 3. Why was Shay’s Rebellion such a dangerous situation for the new USA? Shay’s Rebellion, an uprising of central and western Massachusetts farmers, started because the government did not pass laws that would forgive debt and print more money. The farmers needed this because the area was experiencing an economic crisis.
Daniel Shays, a former member of the Continental Army led the cause. The cause was dangerous because so many people supported them. Citizens saw the rebels as the same as those who rebelled in the Revolution. When the government squashed their movement, many people were discontented and other rebellions sprung up. 4. Why did the Constitution have a system of checks and balances? The Constitution had a system of checks and balances to keep the three branches in even power. If an unconstitutional law is being passed by congress the Judiciary Branch can stop it.
The Judicial Branch can do the same for presidential acts. This would keep the power more evenly spread and allow more voices to be heard too. The checks could prevent dictatorial rule too. 5. Explain the 3/5 Compromise. How/why did this happen? The three-fifths Compromise was an agreement between the North and South met during the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. The law stated that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for things such as how many House Representative a state would get and state tax distribution.
The compromise was met because anti-slavery delegates wanted only free men to count, which would take power away from the South and pro-slavery delegates wanted every slave to count as a person. 6. Why did Alexander Hamilton welcome the Whiskey Rebellion? The Whiskey Rebellion was resilience against a tax on whiskey set forth by Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton established the tax to pay off the United States’ large debt. Small western farmers protested because the tax was more lenient on larger eastern distilleries.
Soon, they rebelled and were quickly squashed by Washington’s newly formed administration. Hamilton welcomed the rebellion because he saw it as a test for the new government. The rebellion eventually also led to the formation of the Republican and Federalist Parties. 7. What was Alexander Hamilton’s view of the “masses” compared to Thomas Jefferson’s? 8. How did George Washington handle the issue of war between England and France? In 1792, after the French Revolution, the newly established French Republic went to war with almost all of Europe.
Washington decided to remain neutral for the course of his term. This became hard because both countries begin seizing neutral trade ships and America was trying to maintain trade with both sides. 9. Why were the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions such a threat to the Federal Government? During John Adams’ Presidency, the Congress was almost all members of the Federalist Party. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who were trying to fight the Alien and Sedition Acts, could not influence Congress at all. They decided take their case to state legislatures and wrote resolutions to Kentucky and Virginia.
The documents suggested that states had the power do declare laws unconstitutional, which was dangerous to the Federal Government. 10. Explain the XYZ affair. How did John Adams handle this event? The XYZ affair happened during John Adams’ service as president When Adams assumed his presidency, the French did not recognize him. Agents codenamed X, Y, and Z, demanded huge amounts of money for loans and bribery. Adams spoke to Congress and called for a navy which resulted in what is called the Quasi-War, an undeclared war that consisted of a few naval skirmishes in the Caribbean.
The outcome of the war was that France would no longer attack U. S. trade vessels and United States neutrality. 11. How did the 2 party political system in American politics evolve? Sample AP questions. 12. “The Declaration of Independence issued a call for a democratic government of equal citizens that was rejected by the writers of the Constitution, who created an aristocratic government that benefited only the wealthy few. ” Assess the validity of this statement. Issued on July 4, 1776 by the Constitutional Congress, the Declaration of Independence was a document that fervently called for equality for all citizens.
On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was declared as the supreme law of the United States. The statement, “The Declaration of Independence issued a call for a democratic government of equal citizens that was rejected by the writers of the Constitution, who created an aristocratic government that benefited only the wealthy few,” is invalid because while the Constitution made for a more powerful federal government, officials were elected by the people, those officials’ terms were all terminal, and checks and balances were put into place.
In the United States, all officials are elected by the citizen. Members of the government like the President, Congressmen, Representatives, Judges, Sheriffs, and City Officials are all decided by people in the community that they concern. Even though power is put onto a single person at some times, that individual was decided on by the people. While some officials like Supreme Court Judges and Cabinet Members are not decided by the people, they re decided by the President, who is elected by the people. The government officers who are elected by the masses, all serve for finite terms. For example, Presidents serve four years until going up for re-election. At the time, there was no limit to how many terms a President can serve, but the people would decide that limit with their votes. Members of Congress, the House of Representatives and city officials all serve for various amounts of time before being put up to be re-elected.
This means that new ideas and values can flow throughout the government and a dictatorial rule is impossible. The United States Government also has checks and balances to keep all three branches within equal power. The Legislative Branch has the power to impeach the President, approve federal Judges, and declare war, while the Executive Branch has the power to veto bills, appoint Supreme Court Judges, and the President is the Commander in Chief of the Military.
The Judicial Branch can have Judicial review on both the Legislative and Executive Branches. These help evenly distribute the power more throughout government and keep one branch from taking too much control. With its election of officials by the people, finite serving terms for government officers, and checks and balances, the U. S. government established by the Constitution is far from an aristocracy.
